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Town of Simsbury, Simsbury Housing Authority Awarded $775,580 Small Cities Grant for Owen L. Murphy Apartments, Virginia Connelly Residences

Posted on: July 30, 2015 - 4:30pm

July 30, 2015 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Connecticut Department of Housing (DOH) Commissioner Evonne M. Klein today identified Simsbury as one of 22 municipalities to receive a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Small Cities Program award.  The Town of Simsbury and the Simsbury Housing Authority worked closely to develop an application for the grant, which was submitted earlier this year.  The grant amount of $775,580 will help to cover the costs of site improvements at Owen L. Murphy Apartments and a roof replacement at Virginia Connelly Residences. Both properties include 110 affordable housing units serving seniors and the disabled.

“The Simsbury Housing Authority does an excellent job of providing critical affordable housing services to our residents,” said First Selectman Lisa Heavner, “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.”

The CDBG Small Cities program is administered by DOH using federal funds allocated to Connecticut by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  Funding criteria for the state-administered CDBG Small Cities program are developed in an open and public process, and are submitted for review and approval each year by the legislature’s Appropriations, Housing, and Planning and Development Committees.  The funding awarded to the Town of Simsbury will allow the Housing Authority to move forward with improvements later this year.