North Adams Housing Supports Louison House Plans
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Housing Authority on Monday gave the go-ahead for Family Life Support Center to apply for funding for the Flood House.
The authority agreed earlier this year to transfer the Church Street home to Louison House for $1 but the final closing has not taken place. In the meantime, the family shelter was forced to move into the building after a fire on June 26 damaged the Adams residential shelter.
"Thank you guys, I really appreciate that you let Louison House in," said Executive Director Kathy Keeser. "If we wouldn't have had a home for our shelter it would hae been horrible, we really do appreciate."
Keeser was there to present plans for Flood House prior to the closing and request documentation from the board of directors agreeing that the transfer would occur.
Louison House had just received a predevelopment state grant last week that will allow it to hire a consultant to look at options for the shelter, and is preparing a pre-grant application due Dec. 15 that will include Flood House.
"I need to show that we're in the process and that we have ... the right to do it," Keeser said. "If nothing else, a document showing we're in the process of ownership."
Keeser said things are moving fast after getting the predevelopment money, "it's a quick turnaround."
In part, the presentation was to assure the board that the Flood House would be used in the way intended when it agreed to transfer the building.
"The Flood House building is definitely not planned to be anything more than permanent supportive housing, which is apartment housing," Keeser said. "Our plan is to continue with three apartments ...
"We've been looking at this in two phases - get the shelter first, then transition the apartments ... We think possibily, with the consultant we've been using, that we may be able to do both in the same funding round."
The damage to Louison House made the building uninhabitable. In addition to the repairs related to fire and water damage, the building also requires code updates, Keeser said. Insurance will not cover the amount needed.
The 1890 structure will require roof replacement, removal of mildew from a number of areas including the offices and attic, new insulation for ceiling and walls, updated wiring, repair of internal and external stairways, and aluminum siding that needs to be repaired or replaced.
Flood House will also require work. There are two obvious apartment layouts in the building but a third will have to be designed. It will also need lead abatement, the cost of which is still uncertain.
"I don't have a price range but I know it's not going to be cheap," Keeser said.
With the predevelopment grant, the shelter will be able to lay out a plan that will aid it in applying for other grants and line up with financing needs. It cannot begin its capital campaign until after January, but has already reached out to banks to inform them about the current situation.
"We're in pretty good financial shape because after the fire, we had a lot of good contributions," Keeser said. "We will build and turn the Flood House into three apartments but we need the predevelopment money to figure out the next phase ... and really check the feasibility of the old house."
Chairman Colton Andrews asked if there was a backup plan should the shelter fail to get this next grant.
Keeser said the consultant will be helping with that in providing a plan that can be submitted with grants and to show donors for the capital campaign. And the shelter should know by January if its pre-application was accepted. She was confident that shelter will be able to move forward, albeit it might have to adjsut plans depending on the grants. "I've been looking at a lot of these big pictures," she said.
The idea is that Louison House, or another structure, would provide the emergency family shelter while Flood House would be transitional housing. The shelter also receives U.S. Housing and Urban Development funding and must abide by its regulations.
In response to questions, Keeser said the shelter would continue to have office space in Flood House.
"It's very, very handy to have an office in North Adams," she said. "Our increase in intakes, the amount of people that walk in the door ... it's easier to get hold of us."
But there was one problem that kept cropping up, she joked.
"We've got the Adams house, Louison House as it's been known, but our organization is also called Louison House so it gets very confusing," she said.
In other business:
• The board approved writing off less than $10,000 in outstanding balances from people who were evicted, moved out or deceased. Executive Director Jennifer Hohn said its done annully to clear the books of debts that are unlikely to be repaid. However, should someone apply for housing through a related agency, that person would have to make an agreement to repay the amount.
• The board is still awaiting a member to be appointed to the governor. Hohn said an applicant was forwarded to his office, but the authority has not received any notifications yet. The seat has been empty for some time.
• The board said farewell to Operations Manager William Schrade, who is leaving for a post in the Pittsfield Housing Authority. He begins his new job in December.
Tags: Housing Authority, louison house,
