Maple Hill Estates mobile home park in Corcoran has landed a first-of-its-kind $234,832 matching grant from the Metropolitan Council.

The money will assist Maple Hill with costs of hooking up to metropolitan sanitary sewers. The mobile home park currently has its own sanitary sewer system and faces an uncertain future involving federal water quality regulations. However, the Met Council has a bigger picture in mind.

In its Wednesday, Aug. 24 announcement, the council said the grant “is aimed at preserving affordable housing in the metro region. Specifically, the grant is aimed at preserving manufactured home parks (MHP), which are sometimes referred to as ‘mobile home parks.’”

“In exchange for the funding, the MHP commits to continue to operate as an MHP and agrees to ‘no unreasonable lot rent increases to residents,’” the Met Council said.

Barry Hay, owner/ manager of Maple Hill Estates, said getting the grant means he has to pass on to park residents less of the cost of sewer hookups and this makes their stay more affordable. “That’s great,” he said. “This is wonderful.”