Ortonville- Village officials hope to acquire within the next two weeks the first of several homes they will demolish or rehabilitate as part of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
The Neighborhood Stabilization Program is a federal grant established in October. Oakland County is receiving 17.3 million through the program and last month, $491,932.92 was formally approved for allocation to the village to address abandoned and foreclosed homes. The money can be used in three different ways? to tear down homes that are beyond repair; rehabilitate homes; and offer assistance to potential buyers that income qualify.
Carla Spradlin, a planner with the Oakland County Community and Home Improvement Division, was at the April 13 village council meeting and noted that the village must have chosen which properties they want to proceed on and have plans in place for work to be done by Dec. 26, although they have four years to complete the work.
‘Locations of the properties can change, depending on where they are in abandonment or foreclosure,? Spradlin said. ‘Ortonville is in an excellent position to proceed in the program, because they have established a budget, identified potential properties and have the necessary staff to implement the program.?
Village councilmembers unanimously approved a resolution on Monday to employ Village Clerk Julie Alexander and Village General Clerk Diana Bertapelle as NSP administrators and Village Electrical Inspector Mike Kyle as NSP project administrator. Each of the NSP teammembers will be paid $20 per hour for work relating to completion of the program and are expected to work on the program on a part-time basis.
Kyle retired last year from the Oakland County community development program, where he was field supervisor for the home improvement program. As the village’s NSP project administrator, he will monitor field work, demolition, construction, and remodeling.
‘I think this is a great program,? said Kyle. ‘Through the Oakland County home improvement program, we spent about $20,000 per home and that generally brought them up to good condition, taking care of code issues, health and safety, and energy items. We had no demolition in that program, so that will be new.?
The homes which may be demolished or rehabilitated in the program have not been specified, said Village Manager Ed Coy, but the plan approved by the county and HUD calls for the acquisition and demolition of two homes and the acquisition, rehabilitation and sale of four others.
‘All is subject to change because of properties coming off the market and being foreclosed on,? said Coy. ‘It changes every day. For that amount of money, we figured we could do six properties, plus there is an element in there for down payment assistance. We’re keeping our eyes open, there are some properties we have in mind, but we don’t know if we will acquire them yet or not. Every property has its own situation.?
The benefits of the program, Coy said, include increased property values for neighbors, increased tax revenue for the village, and reduced blight that may be in the beginning stages in the village.
Of the money allocated through the grant, 25 percent is earmarked to assist qualified applicants in purchasing a rehabilitated home in the village. To qualify, potential homeowners must earn below 50 percent of the median area income. For a family of four, Coy said, that would be less than $35,500 annually.
The village is not prepared for applicants yet, but will announce the process in the coming weeks.