CRAFTSBURY – Craftsbury Saplings Executive Director Melissa Jacobs told the select board at an April 1 public hearing, that her organization has signed a lease agreement with Headwaters Community Trust (HCT) for the property they plan to build a new facility on. Plans are to expand the program from its current 19 students per day to accommodate 54 students.
Center.
courtesy photo
A subsequent public hearing was held to discuss moving forward with a $1-million grant application for a Community Development Block Grant {CDBG) to help fund construction. During that meeting Jacobs said Saplings has already secured a $1-million grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission and close to $600,000 has been raised from private donors. They have a target to raise $1.5 million through private donations, with a public capital campaign planned for late summer.
The first of the two public hearings was required to close out a $60,000 planning grant awarded to the Town of Craftsbury by the Vermont Community Development Program (VCDP) for the Saplings project. Jacobs explained that project work to date has not been funded entirely by VCDP funds. That grant allowed them to begin conducting exploratory work and gather considerable information important to planning the project.
She shared appreciation for the support of the select board in obtaining that first grant to help get the project moving forward in the planning phase.
Jacobs reported the lease option Saplings has signed with Headwaters Trust is for land currently owned by the East Craftsbury Presbyterian Church (ECPC). The church has offered to sell the parcel of land for the new Saplings facility in the northwestern corner of the field adjacent to the ECPC, the current Saplings home.
Current plans are that ECPC will sell the property to Headwaters for $1. Headwaters will then lease it to Saplings for the new building.
Headwater Community Trust President Linda Ramsdell said supporting the childcare facility fits in well with the Headwaters mission “To invest in social and economic vitality by securing land for affordable homes and other community assets.” Childcare is an important component of creating an affordable community, she said.
Ramsdell said the relatively new HCT organization is still developing, so is taking extra care as this project moves forward in working with the many organizations involved: Saplings, ECPC, and the ECPC parent organization. The lease option with Saplings depends on all the pieces coming together.
Ramsdell said she’s excited to be working on the project.
Jacobs told the board the planning grant helped with site and building evaluations, developing a site plan and engaging architect Black River Design to develop conceptual designs in work that is still ongoing. A civil engineer was hired to assess the suitability of possible sites. The H.P. Cummings Construction Management Services firm is helping to finish the design plan and come up with final project cost estimates.
As activities covered by the planning grant were occurring during 2024, grants were being written to fund the construction, said Jacobs.
At the second hearing for the $1M CDBG construction funding, Jacobs shared that this $1 million is a crucial part of being able to fund the project and the application is due soon. Exploration of other funding sources is well along in the process too, but neither is fully committed. An application has been submitted for Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS), but Jacobs said no one knows what’s happening in Congress, so it’s impossible to determine the timeline. New Market Tax Credits are a process for which an extensive application was submitted last fall to the Vermont agency that administers it. She’s hoping at least one of these funding sources will bear fruit by the fall.
If the CDS is approved, Saplings will not need the tax credits, she said. If the CDS option fails, they will turn to the tax credits, which she expects is the most likely scenario.
Town Clerk Michelle Warren said approval of the $1M grant will most likely trigger an audit costing as much as $25,000 and Saplings will be required to pay the cost. Jacobs confirmed the grant application includes amounts for administration costs, with plans to reimburse the town for all or a portion of the costs of any required audit as appropriate.
In further discussion of the audit, it was unlikely this grant would trigger an audit for 2025. Though VCDP might commit the money, it will not be spent in 2025, but in 2026. Costs to Saplings for an audit would be based upon the total dollar value of the grants and the number of them administered by the town, with a pro-rata cost share to any organizations involved, as is typical.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
