Lakewood lines up for more stimulus aid

 

LAKEWOOD – The city expects nearly $2 million in already allocated federal stimulus money and could qualify for more as programs funded by the $575 billion package develop.

Jay Huchison, Lakewood’s Public Works director, told City Council $1.99 million of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money already is set aside for Lakewood for police equipment, $450,000; energy efficiency and conservation, $1.3 million; and community development, $245,000.

An additional $1.5 million of federal money will be used to purchase, fix up and sell a handful of vacant houses in east-central Lakewood. That money is part of the $3.92 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program managed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is intended to shore up neighborhoods dotted with vacant, foreclosed houses.

The city expects to rehab and sell at least six houses, a small number in the targeted neighborhood, which covers about a square mile.

The cost of projects and the depth of the ailing economy’s impact make it unlikely the local recovery money will stretch far enough.

Hutchison used the example of a simple home weatherization project to show the limits of the federal funding.

“In Lakewood, there’s about 15,800 single-family homes that would fit into that low to moderate income area. There is an estimate that floats around of about $6,500 per home to weatherize that generally fit that category. That would be about $100 million to do one project out of dozens that are potential,” Hutchison said.

“For these grants we have $1.3 million and this one idea would cost $100 million if we did it city-wide,” Hutchison said. “It’s a reminder that this is going to be a challenge to figure out exactly what would be the best use of these funds.”

Some 26 federal agencies manage the ARRP money through a broad range of programs in five general grant areas – Community Oriented Policing Services, Justice Assistance, Energy Efficiency and Conservation, Community Development and an Alternative Fueled Vehicles Pilot Program, Hutchison said.

“It affects in some way almost every piece of life somewhere in the country,” Hutchison said.

But a lot of that somewhere won’t be Lakewood because many of the programs are competitive and based on community needs.

For instance, Hutchison said, Lakewood asked for $1.2 million to add three full-time sworn officers to the Police Department under the policing services grants. But he is not optimistic about getting the funds, because many other police agencies were forced to drop staff as the economy worsened.

“The chance of Lakewood getting part of this money is not on the highest end of the scale,” he said.

The Recovery Act itself is not on the highest end of Councilman Doug Anderson’s scale, either.

“Government at all levels has no money that it did not take from somebody else. At the federal level, this money is being taken from future generations in the form of debt,” Anderson said. “These are amazing numbers and these are amazing debts being placed on our children.”

Councilman Ed Peterson took note of Anderson’s objection, but said the city should take the money, anyway.

“Whether you agree with the principles or not, the Reinvestment Act is here and we need to be mindful of both the responsibilities and the opportunities that it provides,” Peterson said.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program money provides $6 million for Jefferson County, split among Lakewood, Arvada, Golden and Wheat Ridge, said Jacqui Picket, Jeffco’s director of Community Development.

Lakewood’s cut, about $1.5 million will be used to purchase and rehab at least six vacant, foreclosed properties, said Amy DeKnikker, an associate city planner who also is administrator of the city’s Community Development Block Grant program.

“We hope to do more,” but it depends on the costs, she said. “These funds are specifically for those homes that have already gone into foreclosure so we can get folks back in there.”

The city is looking for a non-profit partner to acquire and rehabilitate vacant houses that are in some stage of the foreclosure process and those with already-foreclosed titles.

To meet program requirements, the houses will be discounted at least 5 percent under current appraised market value, rehabbed, then sold to low and middle-income occupants.

“It is workforce type housing, regular folks,” said DeKnikker.

 HUD regulations limit the qualifying homebuyers based on the median income in the area. To qualify for the Lakewood program, prospective buyers can make no than 120 percent of the area median. For a family of four, the 2009 cap would be $91.200 a year; for a family of three, $82,100; a qualifying couple can make no more than $72,950; and the single-person limit is $63,850.

The units will be sold for no more than it cost to acquire and rehab them.

The big payoff is for neighborhoods and communities. By turning vacant houses into affordable homes, neighborhoods are more secure and property values are at less risk, Picket said.

“By acquiring single-family units in a concentrated area we are removing any potential form of blight and we are improving the integrity of the units and therefore the integrity of the community,” Pickett said. “And we are offering affordable home ownership. If a homeowner purchases at an affordable rate, they are more likely to stay in that unit long-term.”

In Lakewood’s case, the targeted neighborhoods are between Wadsworth and Sheridan boulevards, and between West Mississippi and West Jewell avenues. Most of the area is in the Greenbrier-Cloverdale neighborhood.

The area, DeKnikker said, was selected because it has experienced a high rate of foreclosures.

“It’s an area that we don’t anticipate is going to have any future redevelopment, so we feel it’s on the verge of kind of deteriorating quickly,” she said.