RUMFORD — Economic development efforts took center stage at Thursday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting.

Not only did the board discuss pursuit of a $250,000 Community Development Block Grant to upgrade housing, but it also unanimously named longtime economic development volunteer Jim Rinaldo as Rumford’s Citizen of the Year.

Members also discussed forming tax increment financing districts to grow the economy by attracting new business.

Rinaldo and Phil Blampied, members of the board’s Economic Development Committee, first briefed the board on what the town, through administrator Community Concepts, achieved with the previous quarter million-dollar CDBG housing assistance grant Rumford won two years ago.

“Also, we have an opportunity with the special town meeting in August to apply for another grant,” Rinaldo said.

Taxpayers wouldn’t have to provide matching funds, he said, because Community Concepts would do that.

“We’d like to put this before the townspeople who have to vote to allow Rumford to apply for another grant,” Rinaldo said.

“We have money we can get but you have to take some steps before we can get that money,” Blampied said.

“How much money are we talking?” Selectmen Chairman Greg Buccina asked.

“Quarter of a million dollars,” Blampied said.

“And that is to?” Buccina asked.

“This is a Community Development Block Grant program to spend the money which comes through the state, but the first thing you have to do before you can get anything is what’s called the legislative body to authorize you to apply,” Blampied said.

He said the next grant round begins in November.

“Sometime between now and November, you need a town meeting vote of the legislative body saying that they approve you’re going for this grant,” Blampied said.

He said there are a number of different CDBG grants one could apply for, “but the one that we are a good prospect for are the housing assistance grant, which is what we had before,” he said.

“They like to follow one grant with another to get all the undone work finished up. We’ve been told we have a very good chance to get a housing assistance grant again.”

Blampied said there’s normally a 10 percent match.

“However, they will allow us to use funds from Community Concepts as in-kind funds so that we don’t have to put up any cash,” he said.

He said Community Concepts has lead-paint abatement and weatherization programs from which they can withdraw money and provide Rumford with the 10 percent match.

“So we can go for a quarter of a million-dollar grant with a 25 percent match provided by Community Concepts,” Blampied said.

Buccina then asked what the grant would be used for.

“As you may recall, the town decided to enforce a rather strict wording of the fire code with landlords in town and were proposing they spend $30,000 to $40,000 on repairs to meet the new fire code requirements,” Blampied said.

“We got the grant, which would allow those landlords willing to do so, to receive money to help pay for those fire code upgrades if they matched the money 50-50,” he said. “In other words, if they got $8,000 to help them meet these upgrades, they would have to come up with $8,000 of their own.”

The second part of the grant was to aid low- to moderate-income residents of Strathglass Park complete necessary repairs to preserve that historical asset.

That first grant was for $200,000 with a $20,000 town match. Maine then added $50,000 to it, Blampied said, “because they liked what we were doing.”

He said participating landlords added about $80,000 and Community Concepts added additional funding. Overall, the grant also provided significant employment for local contractors.

“We already have a list of people waiting who couldn’t get into the last round,” Rinaldo said.

Selectmen took the matter under advisement after Town Manager Carlo Puiia said a special town meeting has yet to be set.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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