Vernon, Ellington, Stafford Receive Crumbling Foundation Grant

VERNON, CT — The Connecticut Department of Housing and local officials on Tuesday announced that Vernon, Ellington and Stafford were awarded a grant totaling $480,000 to assist residents with testing crumbling home foundations.

The funds, administered through the state Department of Housing via the federal Community Development Block Grant, are designed to provide eligible property owners up to $5,000 to test their concrete foundations for the presence of pyrrhotite with no up-front or out of pocket costs.

"Congratulations to the towns on receiving the 2018 Small Cities grant," Connecticut

Department of Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno said after making the announcement. "The use of the money to test crumbling foundations in the municipalities of Vernon, Ellington, and Stafford, often considered ground zero for crumbling foundations, is a welcome commitment. DOH intends to continue to work collaboratively with these municipalities in order to find a solution to an issue that affects one-third of our state."

Municipal officials reacted accordingly:

• Vernon Mayor Daniel Champagne: "We have partnered with Ellington and Stafford to jointly address the crumbling foundation crisis. This grant funding will help residents offset the cost of concrete foundation testing. Our communities will continue to work together at the local, state and federal levels to secure additional resources that benefit our residents."
• Ellington First Selectman, Lori Spielman: "Many residents have told me about the devastating impact this crisis has had on their lives. I encourage eligible residents to access this program and I will continue to work on programs that offer needed relief."
• Stafford First Selectman, Mary Mitta: "I am pleased that our communities were chosen to receive this funding. Our partnership with neighboring towns has strengthened our ability to respond to this crisis."
• U.S. Rep Joe Coutrney: "Approval of this application is a big win for our region,” Courtney said. “From day one, I have worded to identify any possible sources of federal aid to help respond to the crumbling foundations crisis in eastern Connecticut. Today’s announcement is a direct result of efforts by my office to confirm that existing federal CDBG funds that the state gets every year can be used for helping communities and homeowners grappling with the crisis and its impacts. We cannot afford to leave any option off the table as we move forward, and I will continue to work with local, state and federal officials to bring resources like these to our region."

Vernon, Ellington and Stafford are among the towns hardest hit by the crumbling foundation epidemic caused by a bad batch of concrete harvested from a north central Connecticut quarry. It contained pyrrhotite, which leads to the deterioration of concrete. Town leaders hosted a joint public hearing on Aug. 21, in an effort to gather input from the public eventually used in the grant application.

The program funded by the grant award will primarily benefit low-moderate income households and the towns have contracted with a consultant to collect data and "assist in the timely review of applications for eligibility," officials said.

Courtney, a Vernon resident, first identified the CDBG program as a source of federal assistance to response to the crumbling foundations crisis in 2016, after HUD confirmed in writing that the state’s allocation of CDBG funds could be used for crumbling foundations. After Courtney called for the use of CDBG funds for the crisis, former Gov. Dannel Malloy announced that $1 million in CDBG funds would be set aside for crumbling foundations related projects.

However, after it was revealed in February 2018 that only $250,000 of this allocation had been provided to a single application and that the remaining $750,000 had been redistributed to other programs, Courtney publicly called on DOH to restore those funds and re-open the application process so that other communities had the opportunity to apply. Despite what Courtney called "initial resistance" to his requests, in May 2018 the DOH re-opened the program and restored $500,000 for applications from eligible communities."

Information on how residents can apply for the testing program is available at the social services departments of each of the three communities.

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