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Safe Harbor seeks borough support letter for $5 million expansion; council to refine wording
Summary
Safe Harbor representatives said they are beginning schematic work and would like a Westchester council letter of support for grant applications; the council asked staff to tighten the letter and offered to vote after wordsmithing.
Representatives of Safe Harbor of Chester County asked the Westchester Borough Council on June 17 for a letter of support for a proposed building expansion to serve people experiencing homelessness. The nonprofit told council members it plans a capital campaign and has begun schematic work for phase one.
Ruby Abareya told the council the organization is budgeting about $5 million for the full project and intends to invest about $40,000 in initial schematic work via a project manager. Safe Harbor asked the borough for a support letter to strengthen grant applications and accelerate fundraising.
Council members said they are broadly supportive but requested edits to the draft letter to avoid overpromising on zoning or approvals and to keep the letter sufficiently general for grant purposes. Council asked staff and Safe Harbor to coordinate on a tightened draft and, if possible, bring a revised letter back for discussion or placement on the consent agenda at the next meeting.
Safe Harbor said it has other letters from public officials and that its board recently voted to proceed with initial schematic work. Council members emphasized the need for a general letter of support that helps Safe Harbor’s capital campaign without preempting necessary zoning or permit reviews.
