Specifications include, but are not limited to: The State of Vermont received $1.05 billion in Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (Recovery Funding) as part of the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. The Governor's Recovery Plan is focused on transparent investments in key infrastructure needs including housing, broadband, wastewater and sewer systems, climate change prevention and mitigation, and economic development. The explicit objective of this plan is to provide long-term economic recovery opportunities to communities statewide, with a focus on those regions or counties struggling the most with job losses and declines in demographics and income levels. This program seeks to provide adequate drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and drainage systems to manufactured housing communities (MHCs). MHCs are an important source of affordable housing in Vermont and the majority of residents are of low to moderate income households. As housing prices and shortages have increased throughout the pandemic, the need for safe and affordable housing in the state has become even more apparent. However, MHCs historically have been disproportionally impacted by emergency events and infrastructure issues. For example, during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, forty percent (40%) of those impacted by Irene were MHC residents, despite constituting only eight percent (8%) of the state's total population. Today, several MHCs face severe water infrastructure deficiencies that make it difficult or impossible to shelter in place safely during the pandemic or other unforeseen state of emergency. This program will confront this challenge by providing grants for eligible MHCs to repair, replace, or build wastewater, drinking water, stormwater, or drainage systems.
