Addison County Community Trust Announces Funding Awards for Community Wastewater System at Lindale Mobile Home Park

August 27, 2021

Lindale Mobile Home Park
LINDALE MOBILE HOME PARK, MIDDLEBURY - New water and wastewater systems will serve this 67-lot mobile home park.

Vergennes, VT—Today ACCT announced funding awards for the construction of a new community wastewater system at Lindale Mobile Home Park in Middlebury, VT.

This week, USDA – Rural Development announced a major investment from the Water and Waste Disposal Loan & Grant program totaling $1,079,000, including $203,000 that will be provided as a low-interest loan to the project and $876,000 in grants. Additionally, the Vermont Community Development Program (VCDP) awarded $350,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds to the Town of Middlebury for the project.

These awards augment a $500,000 grant from the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) made in March 2021, as well as a request for $200,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending from Senator Bernie Sanders’ office. Additionally, Vermont’s Clean Water Revolving State Fund (CWSRF) is providing a development loan of $182,035 for planning and design work on the proposed system.

ACCT Executive Director Elise Shanbacker is confident the project will have long-lasting impacts. “Lindale Mobile Home Park is a critical source of affordable workforce housing just a few miles from downtown Middlebury,” she said. “This investment will replace the ailing, 50-year-old septic systems and ensure that the 67 families residing at Lindale will have clean water and an affordable, sustainable place to call home for generations to come.”

Acting USDA Rural Development State Director Cheryl Ducharme was happy to make the recent announcement. “Centralized water and waste systems are essential for our mission to make the lives of rural Vermonters safer, healthier and happier,” she said. “People should feel comfortable and secure in their homes, and this investment will give families in Middlebury a newfound peace of mind about their lifestyle and well-being. We are proud of this funding and the many benefits it will provide.”

Owned and operated to create affordable housing by Addison County Community Trust, Lindale Mobile Home Park sits on 38 acres off Route 116, directly east of downtown Middlebury. Individual septic systems were inadequate and posing a potential pollution issue, so this project will create a community system with a leach field on 25 additional acres of recently purchased land. Wagner Development Partners and Otter Creek Engineering are providing development and engineering services for the project, which is currently scheduled for construction in spring and summer of 2022.

ACCT owns and operates nine mobile home parks across Addison County totaling 340 home sites for owner-occupied homes, and is currently working on plans to upgrade the aging infrastructure across the portfolio.  Planned upcoming projects include:

  • A flood mitigation project at Lazy Brook Mobile Home Park in Starksboro, which has been recommended for Congressionally Directed Spending from FEMA through Senator Patrick Leahy’s office;
  • A new community wastewater system at Brookside Mobile Home Park in Starksboro;
  • A new pumphouse for the water system at Vaughns Mobile Home Park in Monkton; and
  • New septic tanks and leach fields for homes at Lauritsen Mobile Home Park in Bristol.

The remainder of ACCT’s parks are planned for infrastructure upgrades in 2025 and later as part of an overall redevelopment plan completed in January 2021. As part of that plan, the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) provided tax-exempt bond financing to refinance the permanent debt on all nine mobile home parks in April and June of 2021, saving the parks money and creating capacity to take on infrastructure loans while keeping rents affordable. ACCT was excited to partner once again with the National Bank of Middlebury, which purchased the bonds issued by VHFA.