The Town of Culver’s plans to add affordable housing may depend on its ability to get a Stellar Communities designation. That’s according to a report compiled on the project by the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority. “They basically looked at the scores from last year and the amount of rural funding available, and being a greenfield project, didn’t give us a lot of encouragement on that,” said Town Manager Jonathan Leist.
He told the town council Tuesday that project organizers have decided against hiring a consultant to work toward the November tax credit deadline, after meeting with IHCDA representatives last week. Leist added that fewer that 10 rural communities received IHCDA funding for housing development last year, and all of those projects were either building rehabilitations or in-fill development.
That leaves the Stellar Communities program as one of the town’s only remaining options to help pay for the project. The Stellar Communities program is run by Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs and helps towns with planning efforts and applying for grant funding. Culver missed out on the designation this year, but is already planning next year’s application.
The Culver Town Council is now calling on the town’s Housing Committee to come up with plans on how to proceed without IHCDA funds. Council members are also considering holding joint meetings with the Housing Committee and the Stellar Communities Steering Committee to discuss the housing project, as well as next year’s Stellar Communities application.
