City gets OK to apply for parks grant
NORWICH – Chenango County leaders gave the tentative go ahead to the City of Norwich to apply for a grant that would, if awarded, complete the design phase of an estimated $1 million parks project.
The county legislature would be the lead agency on the grant. A resolution to the full Board of Supervisors follows next month.
East and West Parks in downtown Norwich are overdue for refurbishing, according to members of a volunteer organization formed in 2005 called “Friends of the Parks.” Plans include an all-purpose, permanent performance stage, updated electrical services, reconfiguration of sidewalks and moving the gazebo in East Park toward Broad Street for better visibility.
Norwich Planning and Community Development Specialist Todd Dreyer told members of the Planning & Economic Development Committee last Tuesday that the group wishes to apply for a $100,000 Lt. Governor’s Office Quality Communities grant. If awarded, the grant carries a 10 percent local share responsibility. The Friends organization, with support from the Norwich Business Improvement District, has already secured a letter of commitment from NBT Bank of Norwich for $10,000.
“We are asking for nothing from the county, just a resolution to apply for this grant,” Dreyer said. The funds would be used to get final design drawings and prepare bid specifications. Dreyer estimates needing between $70,000 and $100,000 to do so.
Friends of the Parks President Eric Larsen said construction funds will come from private individuals, organizations and corporations. “We fully expect to write grants and do fundraising for this. Our original intention was not to ask the city or the county for money. It’s our commitment that we are going to find a way to do it outside of the government sector,” he said.
Dreyer said the group has a 50 percent chance of receiving the grant. “But it is worth applying for. It helps our chances if we apply one or two years in a row, so we would like to start this year to get it,” he said.
The Lt. Governor’s office distributed about $4 million in grants throughout the state last year.
Committee Chairman Linda E. Natoli, R-City of Norwich Wards 4, 5 and 6, recommended researching member items at the state level to identify other possible funding sources.
City of Norwich Wards 1, 2 and 3 Supervisor James J. McNeil asked whether businesses in the BID district would be asked to make a special assessment for the project much like they did for BID’s 2004’s Streetscape sidewalk project. Dreyer said, “Probably yes.”
“I commend the focus of these people. You are looking at a skeptic. We should be proud of how far this project has come,” Natoli said.
The county legislature would be the lead agency on the grant. A resolution to the full Board of Supervisors follows next month.
East and West Parks in downtown Norwich are overdue for refurbishing, according to members of a volunteer organization formed in 2005 called “Friends of the Parks.” Plans include an all-purpose, permanent performance stage, updated electrical services, reconfiguration of sidewalks and moving the gazebo in East Park toward Broad Street for better visibility.
Norwich Planning and Community Development Specialist Todd Dreyer told members of the Planning & Economic Development Committee last Tuesday that the group wishes to apply for a $100,000 Lt. Governor’s Office Quality Communities grant. If awarded, the grant carries a 10 percent local share responsibility. The Friends organization, with support from the Norwich Business Improvement District, has already secured a letter of commitment from NBT Bank of Norwich for $10,000.
“We are asking for nothing from the county, just a resolution to apply for this grant,” Dreyer said. The funds would be used to get final design drawings and prepare bid specifications. Dreyer estimates needing between $70,000 and $100,000 to do so.
Friends of the Parks President Eric Larsen said construction funds will come from private individuals, organizations and corporations. “We fully expect to write grants and do fundraising for this. Our original intention was not to ask the city or the county for money. It’s our commitment that we are going to find a way to do it outside of the government sector,” he said.
Dreyer said the group has a 50 percent chance of receiving the grant. “But it is worth applying for. It helps our chances if we apply one or two years in a row, so we would like to start this year to get it,” he said.
The Lt. Governor’s office distributed about $4 million in grants throughout the state last year.
Committee Chairman Linda E. Natoli, R-City of Norwich Wards 4, 5 and 6, recommended researching member items at the state level to identify other possible funding sources.
City of Norwich Wards 1, 2 and 3 Supervisor James J. McNeil asked whether businesses in the BID district would be asked to make a special assessment for the project much like they did for BID’s 2004’s Streetscape sidewalk project. Dreyer said, “Probably yes.”
“I commend the focus of these people. You are looking at a skeptic. We should be proud of how far this project has come,” Natoli said.
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