Dorchester Times: Giltner Housing Project Is Good Model For Dorchester

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Giltner Housing Project Is Good Model For Dorchester

In tiny Giltner, Neb. (population 407), fostering growth isn't just a nice thing to try; it's essential to survival. In that respect, Dorchester and Giltner share more than just school colors.

According to a recent article in the Grand Island Independent, several Giltner residents have banded together to work to provide adequate housing via a 29-lot development, called Parkside Subdivision.

The project is not so much a business venture as it is a recruiting tool. Like Dorchester, the Hamilton County village has lost interested potential residents because there simply aren't enough adequate or modern houses or lots.

According to the Independent's story, seven couples came together to form a limited-liability corporation when they finally had enough money to develop a large chunk of land that had been available.

Greg Ashby, a member of the development group, said bringing families in and keeping student enrollment up are essential to maintain a school district that is the community's lifeblood. "I've seen other towns that have lost their school, and it seems like they've lost their identity," Ashby said. "It just seems like that's the first nail in the coffin when you do lose a school district."

Because Giltner is within a 25-minute drive from Aurora, Grand Island and Hastings, the developers say Giltner is a convenient place to enjoy small-town Nebraska life. The lots, 15,000 to 30,000 square feet, range from $7,500 to $15,000. The village has chipped in as well to see the subdivision developed. It's providing water, sewer and electric extensions to the lots. The city will install electricity as needed and water as needed, with about 1,000 feet of water main to be added beginning this spring to complete a loop in the area. It will bond the costs of sewer improvements. Members of the development group said a handful of the subdivision's lots are spoken for, and they will likely ramp up their promotion of it once the city's improvements are made next spring.

The project is one of several pro-active steps community members have taken over the past several years. A new $600,000 community center is under construction, and a community foundation and a cooperative school promotion group have recently been formed. The town has also aggressively tried to sell itself to newcomers through its annual Experience Giltner tour of homes.

Our take: Modern housing and a good school are the basic building blocks for any community. Dorchester has a leg up on Giltner, with the $4 million school renovation project currently underway and our proximity to Lincoln -- the state's second-largest employment base. However, Dorchester is falling behind in the race to develop new, attractive homes suitable for younger working families, as well as retirees.

We hope more than a few Dorchester residents will consider a collective development effort such as the one taking place in Giltner, which has 200 fewer residents than our town. As the Times has mentioned previously, we tip our hat to citizens such as Ron Zoubek, who currently has lots for sale in northwest Dorchester.

However, for such a housing effort to be a true success, it will take assistance from the Village Board and the entire community. Like Giltner, Dorchester's Village Board needs to offer water, sewer and electric service to any lots offered by folks who have the town's best interests in mind.

Because the long-term success of Dorchester depends on good housing, the Times will actively support any incumbent or challenger for Village Board who promotes actions such as those occurring in Giltner.

6 comments:

AnonymousJanuary 2, 2008 at 11:10 PM
This is exactly what Dorchester needs. Of course if we had paved streets it would come a little more easily.
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AnonymousJanuary 3, 2008 at 9:03 AM
Bravo for the good people of Giltner......... that's using the old bean .............. but I don't think our school is in any danger of disappearing unlike Giltner's ............ by the way, I heard Friend is pouring cash into its school ........ gotta keep up with the Joneses, I guess......
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AnonymousJanuary 3, 2008 at 4:44 PM
As someone currently in the market for a new home, I highly recommend pursuing this venture. I'd love to live in Dorchester. The obvious benefits for the town have already been stated in the article but the benefits for the buyers could be lower price for equal housing as compared to larger towns and housing that has space around it. New homes these days have small yards because sellers try and pack in as many lots as they can for profit. Neighborhood associations destroy the right of choice but to their credit, no one wants to live next to a rainbow colored house. I don't think Dorchester would have to do either of these. Also, keep in mind that this is Dorchester and lot prices should reflect that. Lot size and price can easily deter, rather than attract, potential buyers expecially since there is no golf course, lake, etc to build around. Developers seem to hike up lot prices unnecessarily. Also for development opportunities, the building of low income housing and apartments could be a cash cow. Those would require careful planning as those don't sit well with regular housing developments/established neighborhoods for their own property value and dwellers of such housing. I believe new housing developments are a must and I'm sure there's enough money in a few pockets that this could easily come to fruition. Just think of all that new property tax - wonder what it could be used for?
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AnonymousJanuary 4, 2008 at 11:37 AM
I agree with the comments from anonymous above. To offset higher property taxes, you gotta grow the tax base. Bring more young people here with attractive, mid-priced housing opportunities.

Who owns the farm ground directly north of the road at the north edge of town? That would be a good location. Also, there is lots of farm ground to the east and south of town. I think the owners of the land should be approached and see if they are willing to sell at market prices. Maybe they could be part of the group of developers.
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AnonymousJanuary 8, 2008 at 1:04 PM
I belive this is a great idea, but you have to get it by, the person that runs the village office, good luck on that.
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AnonymousJanuary 9, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Property taxes is whats keeping people from building ......... in town and in the country........ why cant we get those lowered? .... I want an answer from my county board members........
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."