Block grant decision will be Sept. 23

NORTH EAST — The public hearing scheduled for discussion of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) 2011 Program Year during the Town Board meeting Thursday, Sept. 9, drew out suggestions on grant projects to apply for from both board members and from one of the 10 people who attended the meeting.

The CDBG program is made available through the nation’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD allocates money to the state, which passes it on to the county, and then on to towns and villages looking to finance projects up to $150,000 (based on the project). Projects are awarded funding on a priority basis. The maximum grant award for an affordable housing, infrastructure, transportation or economic development activity is $150,000. The maximum grant award for handicapped accessibility, parks and recreation and historic preservation is $100,000.

Town Supervisor Dave Sherman said the board had been discussing ideas for the grants, but then opened the floor to members of the public in attendance before the board put its ideas on the table.

Ralph Fedele of Millerton, also president of the North East Historical Society, suggested that since one of the objectives of the CDBG program is preservation and restoration of buildings of historic value, the town should consider applying for funding to assist in the move and renovation of the Irondale Schoolhouse. Fedele said it is a historic building, and one of the goals in moving the schoolhouse is to enhance historic downtown Millerton. Sherman said he had previously discussed this possibility with Fedele, and that in checking into it he found that applications for different projects have to be separate, and that only one application per town is allowed annually, unless the second application is for affordable housing.

Another member of the public, Dave Shufelt of Millerton, made a statement during the public comment at the start of Thursday’s meeting concerning the need to pin down the wording of the application for the grants. He had concerns that the right of the public to speak out on certain topics would be affected by the wording on the grant.

“Money going from a higher government to a lower government, such as from the county or state to the town, is a control mechanism,� he said. “The provisions have to be spelled out. The state knows what they’re getting. The town has to know what it’s getting into, too.�

Shufelt expressed concern that the town would lose its right to dissent.

Board members discussed several ideas during the public hearing portion of the meeting, including the potential replacement of a culvert on Old Post Road No. 2 (for which an estimate is already in place), creating handicapped access for the Town Hall and funding a salt shed or sidewalks. The board decided after general discussion to table the matter until a scheduled special meeting on Thursday, Sept. 23, at 5 p.m. at the Town Hall. An engineer will be asked to be present for that meeting.

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