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Somersworth council hears first reading of $62,500 LCHIP grant and local match for Ferber Memorial Chapel repairs
Summary
Council introduced a resolution and an ordinance to accept a $62,500 LCHIP historic rehabilitation grant and appropriate a $62,500 local match from the cable fund; the ordinance and resolution remain in first reading and will require a public hearing and a two-thirds vote
The Somersworth City Council on May 5 read for the first time a resolution and a companion ordinance accepting a $62,500 historic rehabilitation grant from the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) to repair the Ferber Memorial Chapel and to appropriate an equal local match.
The ordinance presented would appropriate $62,500 from the city’s cable fund to the capital outlay budget as the local match, bringing the total project budget to $125,000 as recorded in the ordinance language. The resolution states LCHIP awarded $62,500 — 50% of the estimated project cost — for exterior repointing, stabilizing the north wall, door and frame rehabilitation and interior painting.
Why it matters: The grant supports preservation of a historic city asset; the ordinance requires a public hearing and a two-thirds council majority to amend the fiscal year budget under city charter sections cited in the ordinance and resolution.
Next steps: Both the resolution (Res. 53-25) and the ordinance (Ordinance 23-25) remain in first reading and will return for a public hearing at the council’s next regular meeting. Councilor Gibson said he opposes using the cable fund as the match source and indicated he will not support that funding approach when the council votes.
Ending: The council did not vote on the grant acceptance or appropriation on May 5; staff and the grant program documents provided by Director Babinski and LCHIP were included in the meeting packet.
