No. Neither the CHIP Guidelines nor Vermont law requires a municipality to run a competitive process. Municipalities may submit applications for as many CHIP Housing Development Sites as your municipality chooses to support. However, if the land on which the Housing Development Site is owned by the municipality, the municipality should follow its own purchasing or procurement policy to select a housing developer.
When choosing to work with a developer, municipalities should also keep Vermont’s Municipal Code of Ethics in mind. A good practice is to create a local policy that explains the municipality’s goals and priorities to apply for CHIP on behalf of a housing infrastructure project.