Requirements, Terms & Conditions

General Guidelines

• The Bone Grant Program provides funding for up to 50% of the total costs of eligible projects with a maximum grant amount of $4,000 per property per year.  A property may obtain as many grants as possible in a year provided the total grant amount awarded does not exceed $4,000.
• A Certificate of Appropriateness for the restoration project must first be approved by the Historic Preservation Commission in order to qualify for grant funding. The commission will not consider Bone Grant applications without an approved Certificate of Appropriateness, which is most regularly approved at the same meeting as the grant request.
• Grants WILL NOT be approved for projects where the work has already begun or been completed.
• Grant funds must only be used for material costs and/or professional services or labor. “Sweat equity” or personal labor provided by the applicants or any other person (other than a professional contractor) cannot be applied toward the grant.
• The grant application must include two estimates for materials and/or professional services for identical scopes of work.
• The grant program functions on a reimbursement basis. Grant recipients must first pay for the approved project's costs in full and then submit proof of payment to Town staff for review and processing. 
• The grant amount awarded is based off the lowest of the estimates provided by the applicant. 
• The property where the project is taking place must be a locally designated landmark or part of locally designated historic district.
• The project must be an exterior restoration project visible from a public street. The commission has the sole authority to define a project as it relates to its eligibility under this program. No interior work or exterior maintenance work is eligible.
• The project must be completed within one year from the date the grant is awarded or the grant will automatically be revoked and require re-approval in order to be processed.

Eligible & Ineligible Projects

Grant funds may only be put toward reimbursing the costs of materials and/or skilled, professional labor.  “Sweat equity” or personal labor provided by the applicants or any other person (other than a professional contractor) cannot be applied toward the grant. Additionally, grants will not be approved for projects where the work has already begun or been completed.

Commonly approved grant-funded projects include brickwork repair and replacement, the restoration of historic roofing materials (i.e. clay or slate tiles), the replacement of non-historic or inoperable windows and doors with historically appropriate windows and doors, and the restoration of deteriorated, historic exteriors (i.e. wood siding or stucco cladding).

Ineligible projects include routine maintenance or repair projects (including the painting or re-painting of any surface), the replacement of non-historic materials with like materials (i.e. asphalt shingles for new asphalt shingles or vinyl siding with new vinyl siding), the removal of original wood of any kind (i.e. siding, windows, doors, porch posts, balusters, trim, brackets, bead-board, etc.), or alterations and improvements made to non-contributing properties (generally homes or structures built after 1945).

Deny Grants / Partial Funding

The Historic Preservation Commission reserves the right to deny any grant application or approve only partial funding of a grant request.