The Fraser Board of Trustees met on April 16 at town hall.

Mayor Brian Cerkvenik began the meeting with a moment of silence for a Downtown Development Authority board member, William Palmer, who lost his young daughter “suddenly.” Cerkvenik encouraged anyone with young children to reach out to him for resources on explaining death to them.

Board approves additional business enhancement grant requests

At the board of trustees meeting on March 19, trustees awarded $81,917 in business enhancement grants to applicants who applied before the priority deadline. Businesses were still able to apply for even after the priority deadline passed, since applications are considered on a rolling basis until funding is exhausted.

A total of $68,083 was leftover following the initial round of awards.

The Fraser Business Enhancement Grant program is intended to support current businesses and improve the economic vitality of the town by encouraging upgrades to physical appearances of properties, ramping up disability accessibility and improving public infrastructures, amenities and gathering places. A 50% project match is generally required for all projects.

Assistant Town Manager Sarah Catanzarite said that three applications were received after the priority deadline, and the grant review committee had recommended awarding funding to two of the applicants.

Fraser River Beer Co., Anchor Fox Run and TAK Enterprises, Inc all applied for grant funding. The grant review committee recommended approving the applications from Fraser River Beer Co. and TAK Enterprises. Since the grants are not intended for use for residential properties, the grant committee deemed the application from Anchor Fox Run ineligible.

Fraser River Beer Co. received $6,000 for a federally-approved concrete ramp and pad, while TAK Enterprises received $3,607 for building repainting.

Staff to draft documents for affordable housing incentives

Catanzarite presented to the board about the proposed Fraser Affordable Housing Fee Inventive Program which would remove certain fees and provide incentives to developers to build affordable housing units within Fraser.

The board approved the program, and town staff will begin working on an ordinance to update municipal code that will come before the board at a future meeting.

The item briefing split affordable housing projects into two tiers. Tier II projects require at least 50% of housing units in the project be deed restricted to local workforce or fulfill primary residency requirements. Projects in Tier II must be deed-restricted for a minimum of 30 years.

Some of the benefits of being a Tier II housing project include having certain taxes or fees waived or reimbursed. For example, the site plan fee, subdivision fee and building permit application fee would all either be 100% waived or reimbursed. The building material use tax and the preconstruction quarterly service fees are 50% reimbursable in Tier II.

Above Tier II is Tier I, which requires that housing projects have a permanent deed restriction to local workforce for at least 50% of units. There are some exceptions provided for individuals that meet primary residency requirements and may be disabled or retired workers.

Catanzarite explained that the benefits for Tier I are similar to Tier II, but that the reimbursement for the building material use tax and preconstruction quarterly service fees are 100% versus 50%. Catanzarite said that the town wants to further incentivize the Tier I housing projects because these deeds are permanent, meaning that the town won’t lose housing inventory when the Tier II deeds are up.

During the presentation, Catanzarite shared some sample numbers for trustees to see how exactly how these incentives translate for savings.

A for-sale fourplex, like a townhouse or condominium, would save around $4,871 per unit or $19,484 for all four units under Tier II. Under Tier I, the fourplex would save $7,404 per unit or $29,618 for all four units. This also assumes that each unit averages 2,000 square feet each.

When looking at a 20-unit apartment complex averaging 1,100 square feet each, under Tier II the units would each be eligible for $2,560 in fee waivers and reimbursements. In total, it would add up to $51,199 for all units. Under Tier I, these numbers change to $4,134 per unit or $82,684 for all units. In this 20-unit complex, a minimum of 10 units would have to be deed restricted to qualify.

A 2,500 square feet single-family home would save $6,752 under Tier II or $10,156 under Tier I.

Tier I projects would also be able to request additional subsidies and apply for property tax exemptions or rebates if they meet certain requirements.

“Additional subsidies may be considered for projects that are deemed highly valuable in meeting Fraser’s housing goals and/or as needed to help make projects financially viable,” one slide in the presentation read.

To read more preliminary information about the Fraser Affordable Housing Fee Inventive Program, visit the Fraser website.