Lenox Receives $180K State Grant to Assist Municipal Sewer Extension
LENOX, Mass. — The town has been allocated over $180,000 from the state's Rural and Small Town grant program toward a sewer extension and creation project.
It will support design and engineering costs to bring a municipal sewer system into north Lenox and serve a 65-unit mixed-income rental housing project, developable land, and existing businesses.
The project, currently in a pre-design phase, will also connect to at least 100 homes on dated septic systems.
"The benefits of this infrastructure project will be transformative," Select Board Chair Marybeth Mitts said.
"This achieves many of the goals in our town's master plan and supports Berkshire County's sustainable Berkshires Plan, which in the town of Lenox is identified as a high-opportunity area for new housing development. We're proud to receive these funds and begin to achieve these goals for the town of Lenox as well as the benefit of everyone in Berkshire County."
She added that the infrastructure will advance sustainable development principles — including smart growth. This neighborhood is subject to a 65-unit mixed-income housing project that has already received local comprehensive housing permitting from the Zoning Board of Appeals and was allocated $500,000 in Community Preservation Act funding at a town meeting in May.
State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli said sewer and water are "not the sexiest topics in the world" but desperately needed.
"Infrastructure is one issue that I believe if we're not careful will bankrupt some of our smaller towns," he said. "These grants are a lifeline to really generate those long-term goals that we all passed."
As part of a Western Mass run to celebrate awards from three programs in the Community One Stop for Growth portfolio, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Michael Kennealy traveled to the town library to award the funds.
The RST grant program is available to 181 communities in the commonwealth that have a population of 7,000 or less and/or a population density of fewer than 500 people per square mile. The FY23 funding cycle included 25 grants totaling almost $5 million.
"The best part of my job is traveling the state and going all over the place, collaborating at the local level between our colleagues and the legislature," Kennealy said.
He said the state has a lot of programs that are often complex in the application process, leading to the One Stop portal that includes 12 different programs.
"It's a single front door for folks to access those programs and the startup process is not applying for funding (from) any one of the 12 but rather a conversation with our team around what are the priorities of the community and how might the state help us as a community advance their priorities," Kennealy added.
"And so it's a fundamentally different way to deliver these programs. It used to be 12 programs, all with their own application, their own deadline, their own criteria, and it was very hard to navigate."
This process has reportedly made it easier for rural small towns to access funding through the state.
Aside from Lenox's $181,200 allocation, three other regional towns were awarded funding:
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Becket: $145,000 to create an affordable homeownership unit to replace a hazardous blighted property. The town has chosen a non-profit receiver to redevelop the existing hazard and build a modular home.
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Charlemont: $395,500 to bring two subdivision roads up to the standard of the town's gravel roads to encourage economic development through lots in the subdivisions. This will allow for development and future paving.
- Lanesborough: $72,500 to prepare a master plan for the Berkshire Mall property by reviewing existing water systems, feasibility, and determining best focuses for use such as housing and other mixed use opportunities. This will provide needed guidance and flexibility for economic development and maintenance needs for the Berkshire Mall property.
Earlier in the day, the Baker-Polito administration traveled to Holyoke for a Collaborative Workspace Program award celebration and to Russell for a MassWorks (STRAP) award celebration.
Pignatelli commended the work of the administration, saying he doesn't know if any other has done it better and that the Healey-Driscoll administration will have a lot of pressure to follow through with those records.
Tags: state grant,
