As promised in a 2008 affordable housing law, the town finally will receive a $20,000 incentive grant for adopting an affordable housing Incentive Housing Zone (IHZ). The Zoning Commission took this action more than three years ago in July 2009, but the state grant program wasn't funded until this year's biennial budget.

The Town of Old Saybrook is one of five towns to qualify for and receive the IHZ grants-the other four towns were Torrington, New London, East Lyme, and Sharon.

First Selectman Carl Fortuna was pleased to receive notice of the grant award. He said he would recommend to the Board of Selectmen that the town use the unrestricted grant funds to support additional improvements at the Ferry Crossing site.

"We should plough the funding right back into the Ferry Crossing development project by completing the originally planned ball fields and constructing new sidewalks around the premises," said Fortuna.

On the town-owned 45 Ferry Road property are 16 units of affordable rental housing on the eastern side and, on the western side, a planned multi-purpose recreational athletic field is nearly finished. The laying down of fresh sod on the new field surface is a task that will be completed this week.

The 16 rental units of the affordable Ferry Crossing incentive housing development at 45 Ferry Road were completed this summer. The project was designed by Point One Architect's Greg Nucci and developed by the non-profit HOPE Partnership of Old Saybrook in partnership with the Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development of Middletown. Low cost financing was provided by a $2.9 million loan from the Connecticut Department of Housing and Community Development and a $1 million loan from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston.

This is the second incentive grant the town has received pursuant to the 2008 affordable housing law that started the state's incentive-based Housing for Economic Growth program. The first award in 2008 was a $50,000 Technical Assistance Grant (TAG). The town used that funding for engineering, design, and permitting support for an affordable housing development proposal for the town-owned 45 Ferry Road site.

Under the 2008 law's provisions, the town is also eligible to receive a third incentive housing grant. As amended, the law allocates to towns up to $2,000 for each unit of affordable housing built in an approved IHZ. If Old Saybrook were to receive the maximum award amount, it would be eligible for a $32,000 grant for the 16 units now permitted and built at Ferry Crossing.

Brian Durand, a spokesman for the state's Office of Policy and Management (OPM), said that incentive grant funding for the program's third phase is included in the state's biennial budget. OPM is currently working to set a time-line for awarding grants under this next phase.