South Burlington approves $200,000 to help preserve Dorset Commons
Dorset Street in South Burlington, the same corridor as Dorset Commons and South Burlington Middle School. Photo: CityCenter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
South Burlington’s City Council on Nov. 2 unanimously approved $200,000 from the city’s Housing Trust Fund for Champlain Housing Trust’s Dorset Commons, a 105-apartment property across from South Burlington Middle School.
Councilor Tim Smith made the motion, Councilor Andrew Chalnick seconded it, and the vote was unanimous, according to minutes of the meeting. Housing Committee members, including Ms. Senecal, told the council the work is part of $25 million in improvements, that the apartments need energy-efficiency upgrades and other repairs, and that the investment is meant to keep the development permanently affordable. Councilor Helen Fitzgerald said the request is consistent with the trust’s goals, and also noted that the allocation uses about 60 percent of the money now in the fund, which may mean the funding mechanism has to be revisited.
Committee members said residents of two households have lived at Dorset Commons for 30 years and residents of 11 households have lived there more than 10 years, and that the aim is to keep the property sustainable for the next 30 years. When Council Chair Tom Barritt asked about heat, Mr. Garcia said the buildings have gas-fired Renais units with electric-resistance backup and that phase 2 of the project would replace those units with heat pumps, the minutes state.
A Nov. 2 staff memorandum from Senior City Planner Kelsey Peterson says Champlain Housing Trust asked for the $200,000 in August, that the Housing Committee heard a presentation on Sept. 9 and continued the discussion on Oct. 6, and that the committee then recommended funding the request from money already in the trust. The memo describes the allocation as support for CHT’s Dorset Commons project and attaches the committee’s written recommendation.
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