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Council reviews $10,000 county grant to buy shaded benches for 434 Greenway
Summary
City staff said Broome County has offered an extra $10,000 to purchase two shaded benches for the 434 Greenway as part of a cancer-prevention program; funds must be spent by May 30 and the county legislature will approve the modification May 15.
Binghamton City Council heard a proposal on May 5 to accept an additional $10,000 from the Broome County Health Department to purchase two shaded benches along the 434 Greenway.
Sarah Glosse, director of economic development, told the council the money is an add-on to a previously accepted $30,000 county grant (adopted March 12, 2025 under RL25-12). She said the funds come from a line for cancer prevention via sun-safety in Broome County’s community cancer prevention and action program and that the county had $10,000 left to spend as it closed the year.
Glosse said the county legislature will approve the contract modification on May 15 and that the city must spend the additional funds quickly; she said the deadline to use the money is May 30. She described the shaded benches as a higher-cost item than the regular benches purchased under the earlier creating healthy schools and communities grant and said the shaded benches respond to community requests for seating in areas without tree cover.
Council members asked whether the $10,000 was the only acceptable use of that county line item and whether the community cancer prevention and action program is part of the broader Creating Healthy Schools and Communities initiative and Complete Streets policy work. Glosse said the county program and the March $30,000 award are both administered by the Broome County Health Department but that the shaded-bench allocation is a reallocation inside the county’s grant framework rather than a continuation of the Oak Street crossing or other projects that were in the earlier proposal.
Glosse said she would provide contact information for county staff overseeing the grant upon request and confirmed the city has been a subrecipient of similar county funds in the past. The council did not take a final vote at the work session; staff indicated the Broome County Legislature would act May 15 and the city would place the contract modification on a subsequent business meeting agenda for acceptance.
