Politics & Government
Vets District Applies for Community Innovation Challenge Grant
Four towns have jointly applied for a state grant to get funding for the district.
The creation of the Crossroads Veteran's Services District has been approved by the state, Mansfield Town Manager Bill Ross announced Wednesday night, and the four member towns have also applied jointly for a state grant that will provide startup funding for the consolidation of the district.
Ross introduced the concept to the board in September, after to provide veteran's services agents and services by pooling resources with them.
Foxboro's part-time agent Michael Johns and Mansfield agent John Hogan had been assisting Norton and Easton after those communities had been left without an agent because of resignations.
Wednesday, Ross said the $82,700 Challenge Grant will be dedicated to the administrative and equipment costs for the setup.
"I think we will have a good opportunity," he said. "We have the signatures of the other three town managers on this."
The four-town regional effort had been given a provisional OK in December. But with the formal acceptance by the Massachusetts Department of Veteran's Services, the communities will join only a handful of other regional districts in the state in sharing services over a wider area.
Although the district will be officially headquartered in Mansfield under the oversight, Hogan, each community will have its own administrative staff and office. Hogan and Johns will be the two full-time agents, and a third will soon be on board to take advantage of hands-on training in the office.
Acceptance of the plan for consolidation faced some opposition in several of the towns, with veteran's insisting they needed more attention than could be given by a part time officer, but selectmen were convinced that formalizing an agreement and setting up a structure where some services were shared would provide more efficient distribution of benefits to the many veterans in the area and over time would save the towns money as well.
Each town will bear a portion of the district's costs, and a board of representatives from each community will meet regularly to iron out any problems and hear reports from the agents.