SALLY MUNSON
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OUR COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY
SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen approved moving forward with a regional Community Development Block Grant application last night following a public hearing.
The grant, totaling $900,000, includes a mobile food pantry, housing rehabilitation project, and improvements to Veteran Street.
James Mazik of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission worked with an ad-hoc committee that included Selectman Joseph Deedy, Health Inspector Thomas Fitzgerald, Lake Management Committee member Michael DeBay, and Finance Committee member Art Pinell.
The town applied for the same grant last year but was denied. Mazik said he believes there is a very good chance Southwick and Granville will be awarded the grant this time around. Mazik said the committee took steps to receive more feedback from residents, which was a deciding factor in the failure of the last application.
Southwick was denied a regional development grant because it did not receive enough comments from residents of Veteran Street, where a development project is proposed, among other items. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
“We held a forum and went to Veteran Street and heard from residents,” said Mazik. “They expressed concern about the roadway, drainage, trees . . . and we received written comments.”
The Veteran Street improvement portion of the grant application totals $479,000. The project will result in the replacing of the existing asbestos cement water pipe, as well as other water main work. Six leaching catch basins would be installed and reclamation of the road would take place once all underground infrastructure work is complete.
Presently the Our Community Food Pantry in Southwick is open seven-hours a week as town and state officials look into the possibility of obtaining a grant for a mobile food dispensary vehicle that would serve the Southwick and Granville area. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
The mobile food pantry proposed would allow the Our Community Table pantry to serve residents of Granville and Tolland who are not able to access the pantry in Southwick.
Pantry Director Sally Munson touted the mobile pantry.
“We have grown and we’re receiving more calls from the hilltowns and unfortunately we can’t always get food out to them,” said Munson. “If we can get mobile and get funding, we can help.”
Cost for the mobile pantry, including purchasing a van, staffing and operating for one year, was $93,500.
The housing rehabilitation program proposed included work on five units in Granville and four in Southwick. The program serves low and moderate income residents by creating safe, sanitary, affordable housing.
One resident asked about the timeline for notifying residents whether or not their home was chosen for the program and when the work would begin.
Mazik speculated residents would be notified in August and work would begin in late fall.
The housing program proposal included a total of $247,500 for nine units.
The application deadline is Feb. 13.
