Town of Moriah details plans for workforce housing grant

MORIAH | A vacant plot of land owned by the Town will soon be getting some much-needed attention, and thanks to an aggressive approach in seeking grant funding, the Town of Moriah is one big step closer in its quest to address the lack of workforce housing. New York State's Pro-Housing Communities Program has awarded the Town $150,000 in funding towards the development of workforce housing. "I'm excited about this," Supervisor Matt Brassard shared. "Obviously, everybody knows Essex County needs workforce housing, not low-income housing. And we need it in Moriah, too." Communities applied to receive up to $250,000 to help in their efforts to create master plans, conduct market studies and zoning analyses, streamline building permits and assist with implementing similar actions that improve their ability to cultivate a pro-housing environment. According to Brassard, the money can be strictly used only for the prospect of workforce housing, whether that is an apartment, a complex, or four or five single-family homes- no Section 8, and no low-income," he assured. And Brassard already knows exactly where the new funds will be applied. "The grant will be used to study the parcel where the old Port Henry High School sat," he revealed. "It is specifically to study that section of property that the Town owns, and obviously would include finding prospective developers." At just over an acre and located right in the downtown area, the property is one convenient block away from Main Street and boasts walkability to the library, Stewart's, the bank, with the bus stop not far away. "It is a piece of land that is in prime real estate and could be and should be developed," Brassard said. "We had a low-income developer come to the town a few years back who wanted to develop that site. The board decided they were against it for the simple fact we needed workforce housing. It would have been a $13 million dollar building but what the Town would have received in taxes would have been equivalent to a $200,000 house. It wasn't what we were looking for." According to Brassard, Moriah currently has enough low-income housing- the apartment next to the laundromat on Main Street is lower income, as is Mountain Meadows, and also the entirety of the Lee House. "And then obviously there are a ton of low-income apartment landlords that rent specifically to HUD because they know the money is guaranteed," Brassard added. Seeking to revitalize Moriah, the Town is acutely aware that can't and won't happen without places for those gainfully employed, or looking to relocate to Moriah for their profession, to call home. Brassard said Morgan Central School is a perfect example of this dilemma, with teachers departing only after one or two years and taking their talents elsewhere due to the housing shortage. "The biggest complaint of people is that they can't find housing and have to travel from distances over an hour," revealed Brassard. And eventually, the commute grows wearisome and they find employment closer to their original home and never relocate to Moriah. "The community has been pretty clear, we are not against low-income housing, but we want workforce housing," he reiterated. The study, which is expected to begin in late spring, will entail the property being surveyed, with a consultant offering a few different possibilities of uses for the land, whether it be a couple of single-family homes or a two-story apartment complex, with five units in each building, etc., Brassard explained. "It is basically to see what the most profitable and best case would be for that property so we can pitch it to developers," he added. "We will see where it ends up. At the end of the day, we are going to have a Town piece of property that will be fully studied and ready for development if there is someone out there who is interested." The grant award marked another monetary victory for the Town, which has made it a mission to identify and apply for as many grants as possible in its efforts to bring Moriah economically back. It's a method that has, this far, been paying off; in addition to the most recent $150,000 for workforce housing, to- date the Town has received a $100,000 grant to update the Economic Development Plan, another $100,000 grant to update the Town's Comprehensive Plan. There's also the $122,000 grant for wells and septic systems, a $422,000 housing grant, and a $50,000 grant for Bulwagga Bay shoreline stabilization. Brassard is currently waiting to hear if Moriah will receive the State's New York Forward Economic Development grant, which if awarded, would provide $4.5 million in funding to invigorate and enliven the downtown. "The Lake Champlain-Lake George Planning Board is great, they are working with us and I am very thankful to Beth Gilles and her team down there," Brassard remarked. "ROOST is writing grants for us, the County Planning Office is writing grants, I am writing grants, and we have a grant writer out there writing grants. Statistically, if you apply for one grant, chances of getting it are slim, but if you apply for 100 grants, you might win one or two."

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Town of Moriah details plans for workforce housing grant

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