ECD takes up lead abatement funding at July meeting

Posted By: Donovan Wilson August 3, 2023

By Donovan Wilson

Economic and Community Development (ECD) met late in July to discuss potential new policies for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), especially ones dealing with lead paint removal or remediation.

The question currently being raised is should the cap of the grant for these projects be raised from the current cap, $15,000, often times with further assistance from the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

There were also proposed changes to the contractor selection procedure for these projects. As of right now, the homeowners are tasked with going out and finding three contractors and then the grant will usually pay the cheapest option and if the homeowner goes with anything higher, they must pay the difference.

One of the things brought up while discussing this potential cap increase was the fact that homeowners must disclose the presence of lead paint when closing on a house.

There is potential for there to be a stipulation on the lead paint remediation money provided by the grant if the homeowner knew about lead paint before buying the house as they did so at their own risk.

It is possible that they will require this document when applying for the grant going forward but further research will be done before a decision is made on both new regulations and raising the grant cap.

A point brought up was also that if for some reason these new regulations resist funding the homeowner does have the option to buy an encapsulant to put over the paint rather than go through a full remediation.

The proposed changes would put the board in charge and allow them to pick the contractors, helping to alleviate the amount of time spent on deliberation and contractor selection.

One of the major pluses discussed was the fact that it would cut down on disputes between homeowners and contractors due to things like prices and other variables.

A major positive was also the ability to have a lot more diversity and inclusion with the contractors they use as they will be able to hand pick them. It also gives the board more power with the contractor if the job ends up not being done properly or having issues.

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