Olean Local Development Corp. approves first home repair award

OLEAN — The first loan and grant award by the Olean Local Development Corp. will be helping a homeowner fix up their property this summer.

The OLDC board unanimously approved a loan and grant package for up to $10,000 to help a city homeowner on Thursday, the first of an expected five to receive assistance in the first year of the Exterior Housing Rehabilitation Loan Program.

“It’s going to be a great program that we’re going to run,” OLDC board president J.R. Bennion said. “We still encourage people to apply.”

The first round of applications ended in February, with two applications received. The application process was reopened on Thursday, with a due date of May 23. Applications are available online at https://cityofolean.org/oldc/.

The second received application was denied by the board on Thursday. The board met in executive session to discuss the applications due to personal and financial information on the applications, and officials could not specifically identify why the application was denied.

“Basically, on the application, it didn’t fall within the thresholds,” Bennion said. “There is a scoring rubric we created to score the applications.”

The program grades applicants on the project’s remedies for structural safety issues, demonstrations of need and hardship, ability to match grant funding and the impact of the project on the neighborhood.

Approved in January, the program aims to help five city of Olean homeowners with between $5,000 and $10,000 in assistance for exterior upgrades to their homes. The first $5,000 is to be repaid over a 10-year period at 4% interest, while the remaining $5,000 is deferred as long as program conditions are met. Homeowners must offer a dollar-per-dollar match toward the project.

Only owner-occupied properties with one to two residential units are eligible, and the owner must have owned and lived in the home for at least six months before applying. Property taxes, mortgage payments and homeowner’s insurance must all be current.

Eligible projects include roof and gutter replacements, soffits and venting, work on chimneys and siding, porches, foundations, structural repairs, and door and window replacements.

The grant is competitive, and the decision on which projects to fund will be made by the OLDC board.

Funding for the program comes from a local business repaying a loan from a state program. The developers of the Hampton Inn & Suites in North Olean received a $416,000 loan from the Community Development Block Grant to help furnish the facility. The funding came in the form of a no-interest loan for the first 10 years, and the second 10 years of payments are waived if the project meets hiring goals.

The city was identified as the recipient of the grant, and city leaders chose to tap the OLDC as a subrecipient. As such, the board is free to keep the payments and use them for allowable uses under the CDBG program’s rules.