Proposals were made to repair poor housing and broken sidewalks with the grant.
By Nancy Peckenham
How can the city of Newburgh spend $860,000 next year to create jobs, improve infrastructure and foster economic development?
On Tuesday evening, a half dozen city residents shared their ideas with city council members who must help decide how to spend the funds available through a federally-sponsored Community Block Development Grant. Community input is being emphasized for spending the grant after city leaders faced tough criticism for using an earlier grant to re-pay a bad debt from a marina developer at the waterfront.
Steve Ruelke came prepared with a list of ideas for the allocating the grant, which totals about $4.15 million over a five-year period. He proposed investing funds in a program to provide home maintenance services to low-income and elderly residents, training local unemployed people to do the work. He would also train unemployed people to implement an aggressive lead abatement program. Ruelke also suggested developing a program for resolving disputes over property maintenance and rent, as well as to a system to regulate boarding houses in the city.
One resident suggested training unemployed people to do repair work for homeowners.
Jenny Loeb, an organizer with the Newburgh chapter of Community Voices Heard, told the council that the city should use the money to invest in new housing units that could be sold or rented to city tenants. “We have the opportunity to invest in something that people could really see,” she said.
Denise Ribble, who is the chair of the Waterfront Advisory Committee, also focused on housing, suggesting that the city create a program to avoid foreclosures that allows residents to stay in their homes and make repairs.
Kippy Boyle brought attention to what she called the “shambles” of the fishing pier at the waterfront and argued that thousands of dollars has already been spent there and now the job should be completed. Boyle also pointed to the need for sidewalk repairs and garbage cans that would enhance the quality of life in the city.
The city-owned fishing pier was singled out for being in serious need of repair.
Four other speakers re-inforced many of the same points, emphasizing housing and employment as the city council members and along with interim city manager listened and took notes.
As the meeting concluded, council member Marge Bell directly addressed the public comments on how the grant should be spent, endorsing the suggestion made by Ribble to create a tax foreclosure prevention program. “Do we continue to take people’s homes away from them or do we do something pro-active to keep them in their homes?” she asked.
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