Manville Borough Council approves plan to use $300,000 from Hillsborough for improvements.
By:Alec Moore
After considerable debate, the Borough Council accepted a Regional Contribution Agreement (RCA) from Hillsborough Township Monday.
The RCA will give Manville $300,000 to renovate homes in town that are in dire need of repair.
Hillsborough is granting the money to Manville to satisfy state Council on Affordable Housing requirements, which mandate that Hillsborough must build a specified number of low-income housing units.
Under the COAH regulations, however, Hillsborough can, and has in this case, opt to pay a nearby community to satisfy part of its quota of low-income houses. The $300,000 Manville will be receiving counts as 12 low-income housing units at a cost of $25,000 each toward Hillsborough’s total requirement.
Although Manville could theoretically devote the funding toward building low-income houses, the Borough Council has chosen to dedicate the money to renovating existing homes in town.
During the council meeting, some residents were unclear as to exactly how the RCA worked and believed that there had to be a catch. Others believed that Hillsborough’s contribution would obligate Manville to future housing development. In the end, however, Mayor Angelo Corradino and the council made clear that the money Manville would be receiving would be coming without strings.
"This is free money, are we going to reject it and let our residents who could benefit from this suffer because we don’t want to take money from Hillsborough?" he asked, rhetorically.
In addition, the mayor and council members emphasized that the funding would be used strictly for the renovation of existing homes in town that were in need of major repairs. They further emphasized that no low-income housing units will be built in town as a result of the Hillsborough – Manville RCA. The vote on the RCA was approved by a 5-1 vote. Councilman Ted Petrock cast the sole vote of opposition.
"I just wanted a little more time to look into this," said Mr. Petrock after the meeting. "I wasn’t comfortable voting on something like that on the spur of the moment."