X

Public input sought as Potsdam tries for $10 million to fix up downtown

Posted 5/8/18

By CRAIG FREILICH POTSDAM -- Preparing to submit its application for $10 million in 2018 Downtown Revitalization Initiative funds, village officials will seek support from the local business …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Public input sought as Potsdam tries for $10 million to fix up downtown

Posted

By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- Preparing to submit its application for $10 million in 2018 Downtown Revitalization Initiative funds, village officials will seek support from the local business community and the general public at a morning meeting at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 12. It will be at the Clarkson Inn, 1 Main St.

This year’s application will be more comprehensive than the one they submitted last year for the $10 million prize from the state aimed at bringing new life to downtowns through improvement projects.

In addition to tens of millions of dollars in grants for a range of favorite regional projects, each of the 10 regions in Round VIII of the Regional Economic Development Council sweepstakes will select one municipality to receive as much as $10 million for a well-documented plan to help with revitalization of downtown neighborhoods.

Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) awards are intended to reinforce and secure additional public and private investments within and near downtown neighborhoods, and build upon growth spurred by the regional councils.

Each regional council will solicit interest in the program from communities in its region, accepting revised applications from communities that requested consideration in 2017, and new applications from communities that didn't participate last year.

This will be the third year of those awards. Plattsburgh won the North Country Regional Economic Development Council’s DRI competition two years ago. Watertown won last year. And this year, having been told they finished a close second last year, Potsdam is making a special effort to take the prize.

“The Village of Potsdam won’t take anything for granted,” said Potsdam Director of Planning and Development Fred Hanss. “It would be wrong of us to sit back and coast for 2018. That would be a mistake,” he said before a recent workshop presentation of this year’s plan.

One key feature of any such application is a demonstration of support from the community for the plan. Leaving nothing to chance, Potsdam is hoping to bolster its sheaf of endorsements with statements from business people and other community members at the Saturday meeting.

“We want to give as many people as possible a chance to weigh in on the proposal,” Hanss said, to put forward “as good a plan as we can.”

In addition to this meeting, Hanss says he is planning one or two more meetings with the community in an effort to fine tune the application before the submission deadline of June 1.

This year’s plan incorporates previous plans for the downtown Riverwalk, waterfront renewal, and streetscape enhancements including decorative paving treatments, plantings, and new LED street lighting.

In addition to the 10 local $10 million awards, Round VIII of the REDC initiative, dubbed the “Hunger Games” by some observers, will award more than $750 million in state funding and tax incentives among the 10 regions, including up to $150 million in capital grants and up to $75 million in tax credits for projects and activities identified by the councils as regional priorities in their communities. And over $525 million from state agency programs will be awarded through the Consolidated Funding Applications (CFA).