Staff Writer
WESTFIELD – Feedback from two upcoming surveys could help spruce up the town of Westfield.
According to town clerk Carolee Hallett, Westfield recently received a $10,000 community planning grant that will be used to help determine how best to revitalize the town. “We were awarded a Community Development Block Grant from the Maine Office of Community Development,” said Hallett, noting that the town had to match 25 percent of the grant, or $2,500. “Community planning grants provide funding to communities that are clearly identified as having an economic development program yet lack the resources to develop a strategy for solving their problems.
“The first meeting that we had with our community planning grant committee, they talked about how there were a lot of homes in Westfield that needed some rehab done … maybe new windows, new doors, new insulation, or a new roof. A lot of people need their water source and septic systems tested, too,” she said. “With the grant money, we’ve entered into a contract with Northern Maine Development Commission which will oversee the survey aspect of the project.”
The first step in the process is conducting a Low and Moderate Income (LMI) Survey.
“You have to be a community 51 percent low to moderate income in order to qualify for other loans that CDBG has,” said Hallett. “It’s the whole community … not just downtown; it’s every household in the town of Westfield.”
Hallett will send out the LMI surveys within the next three weeks. Once completed and returned back to her, she will forward them to NMDC.
“The LMI surveys are only sent to 165 households in town,” she said. “Those households were randomly picked by computer.
“In addition, every household – of which there are 257 in town – will receive a housing assessment survey,” said Hallett. “It’s about six pages long and will ask questions about their household. Some people will receive an LMI and a housing assessment survey, but everybody will be receiving a housing survey. All of these surveys have to be returned in order for us to move forward.”
After NMDC receives the surveys, officials will create a plan for the town to consider.
“[Their plan will help us] decide what we need to do within the community to spruce it up, make it attractive for people who want to come here to live or to build, or to attract business,” Hallett said. “You can’t have a rundown community and expect to grow, and we’d like to see the community grow.”
The town applied for CDBG funding last April, and was notified the next month that they were included in the project development phase.
Hallett said completed surveys should be returned to her within two weeks after residents receive them.
“If after two weeks we haven’t received all the surveys, we’ll probably have to call people to remind them to send them in,” she said. “We want people to respond to both surveys. Ultimately, it’s very important.”
In the town’s contract with NMDC, it states that NMDC will present their recommendations to the community by May 31.
“In the end,” said Hallett, “we’ll know what the town needs, and how best to attract people to our community.”
