The township council voted recently to allocate an additional $100,000 from its Affordable Housing Trust Fund to two special needs housing locations in the township.

The trust fund is funded by fees levied upon developers under state law, with the money intended to be set aside for affordable housing ventures in the communities where the development occurred.

Brick previously allocated $400,000 from the fund to go toward housing for special needs adults at two locations in town. In June, the township authorized those properties – located at 425 Drum Point Road and 481 Herbertsville Road – to be used for the project.

Homes Now Inc. will develop the properties.

Carol Wolfe, president of Homes Now, has said a four-bedroom house will be built on each lot. After the homes are completed, they will be owned and operated by the ARC of Ocean County.

Wolfe said that the partnership with the state would earn eight credits for Brick in the COAH program (Council on Affordable Housing, now overseen by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs), with each credit approximately valued at $169,000.

The addition of an extra $100,000 from the trust fund means the state, under its Housing Mortgage and Finance Agency, will also contribute an extra $100,000, bringing the state's contribution to the project to its maximum allowable amount.

The township's program to develop special needs housing is in lieu of compelling developers to construct designated affordable units mixed in with their traditional residential development projects in town.