12/14/2007
City of Van Wert wins another Tier II grant
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| Main Street Van Wert Executive Director Jane Jones (left) and Van Wert Mayor Don Farmer (right) officially accept a $400,000 community development block grant for the Tier II Program from Bill Graves of the Ohio Department of Development in a ceremony held at the Statehouse in Columbus Thursday. |
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BY ED GEBERT
Times Bulletin News Writer
egebert@timesbulletin.com
"Thanks a million!"
Officials from the city of Van Wert could have easily said that while accepting a $400,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) in ceremonies held at the Statehouse in Columbus on Thursday.
The $400,000 competitive grant won by the city also provides the necessary leverage to secure a $600,000 Transportation Enhancement Program (TEP) grant, which the city was offered in September. That means that being awarded the Tier II CDBG netted $1 million to the city of Van Wert for improvements in the downtown area.
"It adds up to $1 million, and then there is any other match money and above," noted Jane Jones, executive director of Main Street Van Wert. "Right now we anticipate with our numbers we have crunched, we're looking at $1.4 million in a total project downtown with private dollars and probably a lot more than that. It usually ends up being more than we really anticipate."
Bill Graves of the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), pinch-hitting for Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, presented CDBG checks to five other Ohio communities as well, including the northwest Ohio cities of Bryan and Defiance, and the village of Leipsic. The cities of Ironton and Orrville also won $400,000 grants to make improvements in their downtown areas.
Graves stressed that winning this competitive grant requires more than just filling out an application and waiting for a check. "This is a process that is ongoing," he said. "It's not just a one-time, here's the money and everything happens. It takes a continual effort, continual work, the support of the mayors, the support of the businesses, the non-profits, and also the financing."
The ODOD's Karen Fabiano agreed, "Today is the fun day. Starting in January is the hard part, the implementation."
The Tier II CDBG money will be made available after the first of the year to businesses and building owners in the downtown district. According to Jones, 26 businesses have expressed an interest in participating, and of those 20 would be making improvements to the exterior of the buildings.
Funds will be accessible on a matching fund program, as was done with the last Tier II grant two years ago. That money went into facade improvements in several downtown buildings such as Butler's Bakery and the Peking Restaurant.
The TEP grant money from the Ohio Department of Transportation will go into the Van Wert Streetscape project, which will include water line replacement, new decorative sidewalks with brick pavers, embossed asphalt crosswalks, benches, planters, and period street lighting, among other improvements along Main St.
Van Wert was one of 13 Ohio cities to receive the TEP grant. In the competition for the Tier II CDBG funds, only six communities were chosen from the 15 who were invited to apply.
Jones and Van Wert Mayor Don Farmer stood beside the large decorated Christmas tree in the Statehouse Atrium while accepting the check from Graves. Jones expressed her thanks to Grant Administrator Gayla Painter, Dee Whitcraft and her board of directors, as well as to Farmer and the people of Van Wert who have acknowledged the work that has already been accomplished downtown.
"The money will become available in January, and we will have 24 months to spend it," she said. "So we're excited... you're going to be seeing a lot more activity downtown."
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