By Nancy Peckenham
Sidewalks, building rehabs and demolition of city-owned buildings were the big winners as the dispersal of $1.3 million in Community Block Development Grant (CBDG) funds was approved on Monday by Newburgh’s city council. The fund was smaller than anticipated by $121,795 and two projects were cut completely, the Brush with Kindness Program and a housing counseling service.
City council approved spending just over $200,000 of the CBDG grant on the demolition project, while the sidewalk project and housing rehabilitation will each receive a flat $200,000 in funding. A youth violence reduction program was funded at $75,000. Other programs funded with the federal grant target rental housing, and in rem stabilization.
The council earlier approved spending $85,000 of the CBDG grant money to pay off the balance of a loan for an industrial development project at Crystal Lake that never happened. More than $170,000 of the CBDG money will go to administrative costs.
One project that managed to slip through and win approval during a time of shrinking resources is the city Art Bus that is designed to take people from the Newburgh waterfront to the business district each Saturday from July 9 through October 29. Council approval $5,155 for the bus, which will be operated in conjunction with Trestle, Inc. and will be decorated on the outside with children’s art work, a rolling art exhibit on the city’s streets.
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