Sidewalks focus of block grant application

PINE PLAINS — The Town Board held a public hearing Oct. 4 to elicit ideas for the 2012 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application it plans to submit to the county — a prerequisite to gaining the funding. The hearing was poorly attended and no one from the community spoke. While the funds are part of a federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program, they are administered by the county and awarded according to a priority schedule, which can change annually. Infrastructure improvements and adaptation to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards consistently rank high on the list of priorities.This year the town of Pine Plains is addressing both of those issues in its application for sidewalk remediation and decorative lighting on East Church Street. According to town Supervisor Brian Coons, who also happens to be the junior planner for the town of Poughkeepsie’s Planning Department, the project should score well as it will improve the town’s infrastructure, help with economic development (the sidewalks are within the business district) and meet ADA compliancy. The way block grants work is that participating municipalities join a county-wide consortium, and all of the CDBG funds from the federal government go into that consortium. The county then divides that money and awards it to the municipalities it finds most deserving, with the maximum annual grant award being $150,000 per municipality. Not every municipality gets awarded grant money, but Coons is hopeful Pine Plains will be among those that do.“In spring of next year the county is coming to do a sidewalk survey, so this would get the ball rolling,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll get some money for new projects, which are too expensive to do all in one year. It’s kind of part of a revitalization plan, with the scope of work to remediate the sidewalks from the bank on East Church Street to the dentist’s office, to in front of Peck’s to the churches. “That’s a big part of our business district, which is small, but it’s important, and that’s what we’re trying to build on and get people to do business here,” he said.The decorative lights the town wants to install would match those on South Main Street, although Coons said they would be adapted so they’re not as bright. He also said there would be fewer installed, to cut down on night-time light pollution.Though the Town Hall was practically empty the night of the public hearing, the supervisor took that as a nod of approval from the community that it supports the sidewalk project. Now he’s just hoping the county will feel the same way, especially in such a competitive market.“Unfortunately, because of the economic times, the county has to spread out the funds and give money to many different municipalities, so they don’t always give the full amount,” Coons said, “which is understandable. We just hope to get a piece of the pie.”