Monterey launching a $540,000 housing rehabilitation project to rebuild and remodel homes for local residents using grant funding that requires no financial match from the town.
Mayor Alex Garcia said the project includes $500,000 specifically designated for home construction and repairs while the remaining $40,000 covers administrative and processing fees. Garcia said the funding is expected to cover the cost of building two brand-new houses and potentially remodeling several additional properties.
“To be able to build two brand new houses for deserving residents, I think it’s huge,” Garcia said. “I mean this is huge, I mean I think, you know, I don’t think Monterey’s ever had something like this before.”
Garcia said the program operates by taking applications from residents which are then scored by an independent council located outside of Monterey to select the recipients. Garcia said the process involves tearing down existing structures and building new homes on the same land for the selected homeowners.
“I mean, you gotta keep moving forward,” Garcia said. “Monterey’s been stale for a lot of years and I think now we’re pushing forward. You know, anytime that you’re able to get free money in a sense and do good with that money, it’s a great thing.”
Garcia said the housing initiative coincides with other development efforts, including a downtown improvement grant and a Three Star Grant for Meadow Creek Park. Garcia said the downtown project includes a 25 percent match to fund new streetlights and provide mini-grants of up to $30,000 for property owners to improve their buildings.
“With Monterey we want to keep that small town but we need to bring in some tactical commercial businesses that will go ahead and fund the budget so that the residents don’t have to,” Garcia said. “I think, you know, with Monterey we struggle, our biggest struggle is to grow but keep that small town feel that we love.”
Garcia said the town is focusing commercial growth efforts near the Interstate 40 exits at 300 and 301 to protect residential areas from increased traffic. Garcia said these properties are located within the town limits but are far enough away to maintain the community’s atmosphere.
“I love the way Monterey is and I love the way that you can walk down the street and you know everybody,” Garcia said. “I don’t want to lose that.”
Garcia said the town will hold its first public meeting Tuesday regarding the housing rehabilitation grant to answer questions from the community.
