AMHERST — More than $800,000 in Community Preservation Act money could support development of affordable housing and provide financial support for low- and moderate-income individuals and families who rent their homes.
The CPA Committee is beginning to evaluate 15 proposals that total almost $3.1 million in spending.
Outside of $1.72 million in applications for five active recreation projects, including what would be the town’s first pickleball courts, the largest application is the $550,000 sought by the Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust.
That proposal, brought forward by Greg Richane, the town’s housing coordinator, would be used for assorted projects.
The most significant is $400,000 that would go toward so-called “development equity” for supportive housing at 457 Main St., the former VFW site that is now used as a staging area for the Jones Library project.
The idea is to develop 30 units of supportive housing, for both veterans and recently unhoused individuals, with the likelihood that the Craig’s Place homeless shelter would be located in a portion of the building.
Another $150,000 in predevelopment funds would be available for the trust to assist in creating affordable housing at private sites.
“Trust investments create permanently affordable housing through mechanisms ensuring long-term community benefit,” Richane wrote. “These generally take the form of deed restrictions on property, which last a minimum of 30 years.”
Another housing-related request is $250,560 sought by Amherst Community Connections for the third phase of its Rental Subsidy Program.
Over three years the agency would use this money to continue “a proven housing-stability initiative serving low-income Amherst renters experiencing severe housing-cost burden,” wrote Caitlin Connors, the fundraising and grant writing manager for the agency.
Another large ask is the only conservation project, which by Erin Jacque, the town’s conservation agent, wrote. For $250,000, the department would permit various improvements and construction at the Kevin Chase Dimock Accessible Trail at Larch Hill Conservation Area and the Harvey Allen Trail and National Guard Bridge at The Brickyard/ Upper Fort River Conservation Area.
In downtown Amherst, the Planning Department is asking for $100,000 to develop a plan for improving Sweetser Park, the triangular green space bordered by Main, Lessey and Churchill streets that was created in 1836 by Edward Dickinson — Emily Dickinson’s father — local merchant Luke Sweetser and two other men. This money would also serve to examine the Enos Foster Cook Fountain, a structure designed by Frederick Olmstead located at the western tip of the park.
Planner Walker Powell wrote that planners and the Department of Public Works would hire a landscape architect firm to complete a plan for the full rehabilitation of Sweetser Park, from creating a planting plan and rehabilitating the historic hardscape to ensuring it meets Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
“The plan will acknowledge/document the historic Cook Fountain but will not propose restoring it,” Powell wrote. “This historic park, located right in downtown Amherst and in the Dickinson Local Historic District, is widely used by residents and visitors alike, but it has become increasingly difficult and even hazardous for people to access and use the park.”
The application also states that the goal is to “come up with an approach to preserve the historic significance of the Cook Fountain while acknowledging that completely restoring the fountain to its original condition and use is not financially feasible.”
The Amherst Historical Society would use $10,850 for stabilizing Mabel Loomis Todd’s textiles, including various items held at the Amherst History Museum, such as a hand-painted wall hanging, a linen blanket with insect damage, a set of hand-painted cuffs, collar and panel for a dress, two bathing costumes and a silk dress with embroidered flowers.
Other items at the museum to be assessed for future conservation would be Emily Dickinson’s famed white dress, which may need to be cleaned, Ebenezer Mattoon’s military coat from the War of 1812, and textiles in the Sally Emerson Bedroom, such as a bedspread, bed hangings and quilt, all of which have been on display continuously since the last family member died in 1916.
Two projects are considered passive recreation. First is $77,300 sought by Ancestral Bridges to create a walking tour of historic sites that explore the history of Amherst’s Black and Afro-Indigenous community. Second is $71,000 for the Mill River History Trail, a District One Neighborhood Association project that will tell the story of industrial development in North Amherst between 1727, when the first known mill began operating, and 1940, when the last operating water-powered mill ceased operations.
Others seeking money are the Amherst Woman’s Club, which would use $69,272 for electrical upgrades for the Alice Maud Hills House, 35 Triangle St., and St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church, which would use $17,000 to replace the bells in the bell tower at its building, 122 North Pleasant St.
