Grant will help raise eight historic homes

Waterbury has received a $53,300 grant to help raise eight historic homes on Elm, Randall and Union streets above the 100-year flood level, about 2 feet.

“It’s been a long haul,” said Barbara Farr, the community’s long-term recovery director.

The town applied for a grant almost two years ago from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to raise the eight houses, but it hasn’t been approved yet. A couple of months ago, Farr said, the town applied for a grant from the Vermont Community Development Program, which will cover costs that FEMA will not.

Now that the community grant has been approved, the federal money shouldn’t be far behind, Farr said.

However, because it’s been two years since Waterbury applied for the FEMA grant, she needs to see if the homeowners are still interested in the project.

“They may have changed their minds,” Farr said.

As of press time, she had not yet confirmed how many homeowners are still interested.

If they are interested, the Vermont Division of Historic Preservation will need to see models of what the homes will look like after being elevated, and ensure their historic character stays intact.

The state will also check the potential for finding historical artifacts on the properties, Farr said. Artifacts have been found there in the past.

The community development grant comes from $40 million given to Vermont after Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, said Josh Hanford, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

Hanford said the grants have helped communities across the state to build affordable housing, replace bridges and culverts, and relocate and rebuild municipal buildings.

“There’s quite a long list of projects,” he said.

For this round of grants, the organization gave out more than $2.4 million.

“From Brattleboro to Barre, communities across Vermont will use these grants to create jobs, build affordable housing, expand services to their residents, restore historic buildings and make their communities more resilient,” Gov. Peter Shumlin said in a press release.

The state has been awarding about $7 million a year to help deal with the damage Irene caused. However, the money is nearly done, with room for only one more round of grants, Hanford said. The state has handed out the $22 million it received after Irene and is finishing up the $18 million it received after Sandy.