Simsbury Receives Community Development Block Grant Small Cities Program Award

Editor’s note: We published this story earlier in the week, but here it is again in case you missed it.

Recently, 22 municipalities in Connecticut were approved to receive nearly $12 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Small Cities Program awards from the state that will provide important upgrades and improvements to their local communities.

Simsbury was one of the towns to receive funding

The town was awarded $775,580 for the Dr. Owen L. Murphy Apartments and Virginia Connolly Senior Residences. The Simsbury Housing Authority will undertake site improvements at the Owen L. Murphy Apartments and a roof replacement at the Virginia Connolly Residences. Both properties include 110 affordable housing units serving seniors and the disabled.

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“The Simsbury Housing Authority does an excellent job of providing critical affordable housing services to our residents,” said First Selectman Lisa Heavner in a statement. “And we are delighted to be part of a project that will provide the necessary grant funding to ensure that the Owen L. Murphy and Virginia Connelly structures are safe, well-maintained and attractive. I would like to thank Jeff Shea and our town staff for working closely with the Housing Authority to make this grant a reality.”

Simsbury Housing Authority Executive Director Ed LaMontagne added that “the grant money will help us to address some critical infrastructure issues here. We now have the funds we need to replace roofing that is long past its life expectancy; and the grant will allow us to fund much-needed road repairs as well.”

Under the program, eligible applicants include smaller towns that have a population of not more than 50,000 residents. The grants are awarded to the municipalities to facilitate projects that will enhance their communities in a variety of ways, including developing or preserving affordable housing, providing services to the most vulnerable residents in our communities, and creating and retaining jobs.

The CDBG Small Cities program is administered by Department of Housing using federal funds allocated to Connecticut by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.