Rehabilitation Fund Gets $182,000 Boost

The city has added $182,000 to a fund that will be used to rehabilitate some homes and a commercial area along Westminster Boulevard.

The city had budgeted the money, officials said, to pay the interest on a federal loan that they expected to get in 1994. But since the loan did not come through until November 1995, the city did not have to make the anticipated payment last year.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted to spend $112,000 to help residents repair their homes and the remaining $70,000 to help businesses.

The funds will allow the city to finish its rehabilitation projects for 1996, including 30 homes on a waiting list for repairs, said Don Anderson, director of community development. Priority is given to elderly, disabled and low-income residents based on need, Anderson said.

With Tuesday’s allocation, Westminster now has $140,000 budgeted for the commercial portion of the rehabilitation, which will extend along Westminster Boulevard between Beach Boulevard and Hoover Street.

“I’ve seen this program in action, both in businesses and mobile home parks, and it’s an excellent program,” resident Stan Hirsch said at a public hearing on the issue.

In the past 18 years, the city has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants and loans for housing projects, including apartments, mobile homes, single-family residences and businesses.