Col. Beach will present stronger revitalization grant application

Northern Neck PDC:

“After only four meetings with Jerry Davis, Executive Director of the Northern Neck Planning District Commission, the Colonial Beach Revitalization Management Team is ready to pass the draft application on to the town council. ‘This will be the last meeting for the group before the grant application is approved,’ Davis told the group with confidence. Davis recapped the project’s final details with the group and finalized the last steps needed to complete the process of applying for an almost $1 million Community Development Block Grant.

The application will go to the council for their second and final public hearing next week. Davis and staff will present a draft application to the council at the February 13 meeting. Changes will be made as needed, and Davis hopes to have the council’s final approval to submit the application at the March meeting… Previously, Colonial Beach’s application dealt mostly with slum and blight elimination. So to make the application more competitive, the group has focused more on providing low- to moderate-income jobs. Currently, in order for businesses to take advantage of the loans provided through the grant, they must commit to creating at least one job for low- to moderate-income individuals.”

 ~Writes Linda Farneth of The Journal

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Elkton focuses on Gateway plan details

Central Shenandoah PDC:

“During its Jan. 20 meeting, the Elkton Town Council received an extensive report on the progress of the Gateway project from Erin Yancey, who is a regional planner with the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission.

Yancey’s presentation made clear that the Gateway project is much more than simple landscaping at the intersection of U.S. 33 and U.S. 340 (South Stuart Avenue) – the part of the project that has been frequently mentioned at council meetings. The intersection landscaping is a peripheral part of the full project, which is focused on ‘revitalizing’ and ‘restructuring’ the downtown area of Elkton, as Yancey explained. She began her presentation by noting that the intersection is scheduled for plantings in March. Then, she explained the full project.

Comission planners have been attending Gateway Steering Committee meetings and explaining what a major downtown revitalization project could look like and how the committee could make it happen.

The first step, Yancey explained, would be an application to the state Department of Housing and Community Development for a $35,000 Business District Revitalization Planning Grant, which would provide a professional planner for discussions with town representatives on the possible projects for downtown improvements. This discussion would be expected to lead to a refined list of final project choices, which the commission calls an “economic restructuring plan.””

~ Writes Ted Hayes of The Valley Banner

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Greenhouse Village Housing Project Receives CDBG Grant

Central Shenandoah PDC

“With the help of a $288,936 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Rockbridge County has partnered with Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity to address a need for affordable housing in the Rockbridge area. The Greenhouse Village Housing Production Project will provide for the construction of eight homes for low- and moderate-income (LMI) families and the infrastructure required to serve them within a two-year period. The new infrastructure component of the project will not only serve the eight homes called for in the grant, but also serve 30+ future home sites in the Greenhouse Village neighborhood currently without access to public water, sewer or streets. The project also identifies a significant amount of down payment assistance available to eligible homebuyers, further reducing their cost of homeownership.

  

The CSPDC assisted Rockbridge County with the CDBG grant proposal and will provide ongoing grant administration services.  ”

~Central Shenandoah PDC

Buena Vista's Dickinson Well Project

Central Shenandoah PDC

“Construction on Buena Vista's Dickinson Well began in December 2013, thanks to a $1 million Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.  Dickinson Well, the City's largest well source, was declared to be under the influence of surface water in November 2009.  At that point, the City shut down the Dickinson Well system and began the process of obtaining professional engineering services to bring the facility in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.  This meant that additional treatment of the water in the form of membrane filtration would have to be provided.  The CSPDC assisted the City in applying for and receiving CDBG funding and continues to provide grant administration services to Buena Vista for the project.  Dickinson Well is expected to be back online in the fall of this year.”

~Central Shenandoah PDC

Meadowlark Subdivision residents hopeful about getting grant for upgrades

Town of Appomattox

“Currently, the Region 2000 Local Government Council is conducting the study, which is being funded by a $25,000 planning grant that was awarded to the town last month. The study began last October and is expected to be completed in a couple of months, according to senior planner Scott Smith of Region 2000. The study incorporates the following roads: North Avenue, Patricia Anne Lane, Plant Drive as well as Stevens, Brown, Patterson, and Rose Streets.

Interim Town Manager Bill Gillespie said that funds from the planning grant will go toward hiring an inspector and interviewing people who are interested in getting repairs done to their home. Once the study is complete and it is determined that a revitalization of the neighborhood can be done, the town plans to apply for a Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Block Grant, which is money awarded to communities to do construction housing projects. During a neighborhood committee meeting in November, Smith explained that the grant money could be used for other items such as streetlights and installing sewer.”

~Writes Stephanie A. James of the Times-Virginian

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