Village of Oxford seeks residents’ help in getting state grant
OXFORD – The Village of Oxford is taking steps that could lead to a big payoff to improve the village’s downtown business area.
With an end goal of acquiring money through the New York Main Street grant program, Oxford officials are reaching out to residents living within the downtown business district. Residents in the business district are being asked to complete a 6-10 question survey relating to the demographics of their household and their estimated income for the coming year.
The purpose, explained Oxford Mayor Terry Stark, is for the village to meet eligibility requirements to apply for Main Street Program funding.
“There are only about 70 households that this survey targets within a two-block area of downtown,” Stark said, stressing the need to gather information from residents in order to prove eligibility for the Main Street Program. “We’re not looking at tax records. We’re just getting an estimate of how much someone might make in the coming year.”
The Main Street Program, steered by the state Department of Homes and Community Renewal, provides financial resources and technical assistance to communities to strengthen economic vitality. Throughout the state, Main Street funds are administered to units of local government, business improvement districts or not-for-profit organizations to preserve historic downtowns or mixed-use neighborhoods and commercial districts.
Eligibility, however, is contingent on residents’ median income. The program stipulates that more than 50 percent of the residents have incomes that do not exceed 90 percent the area median income for the county.
That was a snag in previous attempts to get Main Street funding, Stark said. The village applied for the grant in 2012 and again in 2013, but was turned down both times for lack of meeting income guidelines. If awarded, those grants could have provided as much as $250,000 to help private developers leverage their own investment to restore downtown buildings and homes, so long as those developers adhered to Main Street Program regulations.
“Our ability to articulate what we wanted to do with funds from the program and how we wanted to do it never got off the ground because we didn’t meet eligibility criteria,” said Stark. “The reason being that the median household income exceeded what would be higher than what is standard in the program.”
That’s an obstacle the village hopes to remove with the survey.
The challenge now is getting residents in Oxford’s downtown business area to respond to the survey. Because of the small demographic (approximately 70 households, many of which are rental properties), the village needs a high percentage (95 percent) of survey returns.
Stark said that given the five to ten minutes it takes for residents to complete the survey, and the potential extraordinary payoff of Main Street funding, he hopes to see an adequate number of responses.
RCAP Solutions Inc., a not-for-profit community development agency, is helping the village with the survey. All responses will be kept confidential.
The village has scheduled a public information meeting for 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 23 for residents with questions or concerns. Questions may also be addressed to Mayor Stark via email, TStark@stny.rr.com, or by calling 843-9414.
With an end goal of acquiring money through the New York Main Street grant program, Oxford officials are reaching out to residents living within the downtown business district. Residents in the business district are being asked to complete a 6-10 question survey relating to the demographics of their household and their estimated income for the coming year.
The purpose, explained Oxford Mayor Terry Stark, is for the village to meet eligibility requirements to apply for Main Street Program funding.
“There are only about 70 households that this survey targets within a two-block area of downtown,” Stark said, stressing the need to gather information from residents in order to prove eligibility for the Main Street Program. “We’re not looking at tax records. We’re just getting an estimate of how much someone might make in the coming year.”
The Main Street Program, steered by the state Department of Homes and Community Renewal, provides financial resources and technical assistance to communities to strengthen economic vitality. Throughout the state, Main Street funds are administered to units of local government, business improvement districts or not-for-profit organizations to preserve historic downtowns or mixed-use neighborhoods and commercial districts.
Eligibility, however, is contingent on residents’ median income. The program stipulates that more than 50 percent of the residents have incomes that do not exceed 90 percent the area median income for the county.
That was a snag in previous attempts to get Main Street funding, Stark said. The village applied for the grant in 2012 and again in 2013, but was turned down both times for lack of meeting income guidelines. If awarded, those grants could have provided as much as $250,000 to help private developers leverage their own investment to restore downtown buildings and homes, so long as those developers adhered to Main Street Program regulations.
“Our ability to articulate what we wanted to do with funds from the program and how we wanted to do it never got off the ground because we didn’t meet eligibility criteria,” said Stark. “The reason being that the median household income exceeded what would be higher than what is standard in the program.”
That’s an obstacle the village hopes to remove with the survey.
The challenge now is getting residents in Oxford’s downtown business area to respond to the survey. Because of the small demographic (approximately 70 households, many of which are rental properties), the village needs a high percentage (95 percent) of survey returns.
Stark said that given the five to ten minutes it takes for residents to complete the survey, and the potential extraordinary payoff of Main Street funding, he hopes to see an adequate number of responses.
RCAP Solutions Inc., a not-for-profit community development agency, is helping the village with the survey. All responses will be kept confidential.
The village has scheduled a public information meeting for 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 23 for residents with questions or concerns. Questions may also be addressed to Mayor Stark via email, TStark@stny.rr.com, or by calling 843-9414.
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