Council To Help Heat Cambridge

Amid concerns about the rising cost of fuel, the Cambridge City Council approved appropriations to help low-income families in Cambridge pay for heating oil and to supplement benefits for families that had exhausted their heating benefits at its regular meeting last night.

The meeting also marked the first steps toward renaming Plympton Street in honor of deceased Pulitzer Prize winner and Crimson alumnus David L. Halberstam ’55. The proposal, which will require the Council’s Government Operations and Rules Committee to hold a public hearing about the potential name change, was unanimously approved.

The Council agreed to allocate $419,120 from a Federal Department of Health and Human Services grant to provide for the department’s Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

LIHEAP serves 2,000 clients in Cambridge and Somerville, all of whom fall below 200 percent of the national poverty level and receive between $350 and $1,165 per household, depending on their income.

The Council simultaneously approved the use of a $3,050 grant from Massachusetts Association for Community Action Program to provide for people who had used up their heatingfunds.

Several councillors said they were concerned that people who rent homes and receive LIHEAP funds might not have access to efficient energy use methods, which might contribute to LIHEAP clients running out of fuel.

“Typically, a landlord doesn’t have much incentive to make a property more energy efficient, because they don’t pay utilities,” said Councillor Henrietta J. Davis.

But Ellen Semenoff, the assistant city manager for human services, said that the city conducts outreach efforts with landlords, renters, and homeowners to educate them about energy efficiency.

Semenoff also assuaged concerns raised by Vice Mayor Brian P. Murphy ’86-’87 that the rising cost of fuel might prevent the city from receiving the current level of funding for heating benefits in the future.

“We have enough money to serve everyone who is eligible,” Semenoff said.

She said that since LIHEAP is funded by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, it is not subject to changes in the state budget, despite being administered at the state level.

Furthermore, she said, the number of Cambridge residents served by the program has remained consistent in the past several years.

–Staff writer Sarah J. Howland can be reached at showland@fas.harvard.edu.