BROCTON - The village of Brocton will keep striving until its downtown facade is cleaned up.
Leaders decided during their bi-monthly meeting to re-apply for any available Community Development Block Grant funding that could be facilitated through CHRIC in order to clean up Main Street.
CHRIC Executive Director Jim Goodling and Special Projects Manager Garrett Brooks were at the meeting to offer suggestions to village leaders that may improve their chances of securing a sizeable award.
"We would for sure like to try for any additional monies. I think we were very dismayed after being turned down for our last application with the reason there wasn't enough public input," Mayor Dave Hazleton said.
"We had a good showing of people interested and I thought we did a good job of outreach to the public."
The village has sought revitalization funding for Main Street in previous years, and has subsequently been nudged out in some scrutinizing selection processes.
Brooks indicated the original surveys completed for previous applications should suffice for a re-application, but an additional public meeting to confirm public interest may be required. The mayor confirmed to the two CHRIC representatives that the same north section of Main Street would be the focus of the application's award.
"One weakness of last year's application was the lack of good numbers. You're going to get good numbers to apply with by having a professional engineer do a thorough walk-through, and have someone assess the condition of the property involved fairly quickly. That would give us the estimate connected with the scope of the project," stated Goodling.
"It shows that the community as a whole and CHRIC have made an effort to accomplish this project," he added.
Goodling and Village Clerk Karen Ardillo suggested some of the engineers involved with the projects already taking place in Brocton, or possibly those that are working for Brocton Central School should be approached to see if they could provide a professional inspection.
During the discussion, Village Attorney Sam Drayo stressed the importance of securing an award for Main Street, especially for the property at 10 E. Main Street, which is slated for county tax foreclosure status.
"The owner has no money to fix the property and would let it go back on the tax rolls. They did allow the village to take steps to demolish it, and the owner has indicated being agreeable to that. But if we could get some grant money, it would save the taxpayers a lot of money."
After hearing Goodling's and Brooks' opinions, the board and Hazleton agreed to take their suggestions and start the application process. The first public hearing will be scheduled later in the month, with the final application due in June.
In other matters, Village Clerk Karen Ardillo proudly announced that arch donation totals have climbed to more than $21,000. She reminds the general public, especially those who use social networking sites, that Brocton native D.J. Hixson Abram, who now resides in Harrisburg, Pa., will be walking over 250 miles from Harrisburg to the arch in a grand effort to raise funds for the project.
"He has had a tremendous response to this cause, and I really believe we are about to see a reality come true," she stated.
Mayor Hazleton thanked and recognized others who have pitched in by donating, including: Judy and Al Kawski, in memory of Bob and Marge Owen; Richard and Rozanne Ellis; Josephine Lus Lautenslaker; Malcolm Nelson; Bob Ransom, in memory of his late parents, Ron and Hilda Ransom; Chuck and Debra Kelley Jr.; and George and Judy Travis, in memory of the Travis family.
The board will meet again Wednesday at 7 p.m.
