Gloucester supervisors voted Tuesday night to support submission of a grant application that seeks to rehabilitate five uninhabitable homes in the county, making them into affordable housing.

During the meeting, which was held in the colonial courthouse, board members voted 5-1 in favor of the resolution, with supervisor Ashley Chriscoe casting the lone nay vote and Ken Gibson not present.

The Virginia Housing Community Impact Grant Innovation Program Grant would provide $200,000 to cover the cost to rehab the homes, and to hire a qualified contractor, subcontractor, and project manager. County Administrator Carol Steele gave a presentation on the grant, explaining that it would benefit the county by providing five more affordable housing units in the county. Those chosen to reside in the homes need to have been employed for a year, be employed in Gloucester County, and also work in a certain field such as education, the medical field, or first responders. 

Steele also said the grant application is still being worked on so it could go through finance, the county attorney, as well as getting a memorandum of understanding or a memorandum of agreement for the rural housing partnership. She said that the application is almost completed and has a few matters that need to be discussed with the state. She said that this would be the first time that the county has undertaken a project like this.

Some board members were uncertain about making a resolution on the grant due to the process of how the homes were chosen to be renovated. 
Steele said that the acquisition would occur first, but they would need to find people who would take a tax write-off. The contractor was provided information on sites through the assessor’s office so that they could determine if certain homes could be salvaged based on the acreage of the home, the condition of the dwelling, and look at those with unpaid taxes.

“I hope the Hometown Heroes Program will hopefully receive additional donations and things for people who want to help a first-time law enforcement or teacher or someone in the medical profession, etc., to be able to have their own home,” said Steele.