Committee says housing assessment likely to be funded through state service-provider grant

The Scarborough Housing & Planning Committee was told the town's planned housing assessment has been packaged into a larger application for a state service-provider grant and is likely to be funded. Staff said the regional provider is the only eligible recipient of these grants and that the town's application was incorporated into the grant rubric.

"Paul Johnson, who I'm working with, has said it's really not a competitive process. It's... kind of a guarantee," a staff speaker reported, describing the contact's assessment of the application process and the likely October award date. Committee members were told that if the grant is awarded the consultant team will reconvene with the town to refine the scope and to design a public-engagement component.

Members noted the assessment will be a multi-step process and stressed the value of tailoring the public process. A committee member also reported the town's affordable-housing initiative fund now holds roughly $900,000, money that could be used selectively to leverage additional projects once the assessment identifies priorities.

Staff said the town could expect further updates at the October or November meeting and that the grant-funded work will cover most near-term assessment tasks; any gaps could be filled later with targeted, lower-cost contracting.