Greene County board approves application to administer $600,000 DRI small-projects fund for downtown Catskill

At a Greene County board meeting, members voted to authorize staff to apply to serve as the project sponsor for a $600,000 Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) small-projects fund focused on downtown Catskill.

The vote approved submitting the DRI application with the standard administrative offset, which board staff said would be no more than 10% of the fund request — about $60,000 — leaving roughly $540,000 to deploy to projects. "What I would like to do is apply for $600,000 including that admin fee," said James (staff member). "No more than 10% of the project asks, so $60,000 could come back to us."

The fund is intended to support capital projects in the DRI boundary for downtown Catskill. Eligible activities described by staff include construction and exterior improvements, heavy fixed equipment and façade work; the program would not pay operating expenses or working capital, and it would not require job-creation metrics. Staff described a proposed program design that would allocate about $500,000 to roughly 10 businesses in awards ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 with a 90/10 cost split component (transcript language: "5 to $50,000 and $90.10 split"). The board did not adopt a final underwriting rubric at the meeting.

Staff said the program would be administered similarly to the corporation's existing microenterprise program: applications submitted online, an internal scoring process, committee review and a board vote before closings. "If it passes an internal score pass, it'll be brought to the committee. The committee will vote on it. That vote will then go to the board to be processed, and then we'll handle closing pretty much exactly how we do with microenterprise loans," James said.

Geographic eligibility was described as aligning with the established DRI boundaries for downtown Catskill: the western boundary at Bridge Street, the northern boundary near Water Street, the eastern edge roughly two blocks of Main Street, and the southern boundary near the bottom of Hotpe House (as described in the meeting). Staff noted nonprofit and private entities can qualify and said entities already receiving DRI funding would be ineligible; clarification on eligibility for religious organizations was not provided at the meeting.

The board approved the motion to submit the application after a motion and second; the vote was taken verbally with two affirmative "Aye" responses recorded in the meeting transcript and no recorded opposition. The application is due Monday, and staff said award notifications are not expected until early 2026. Staff also said they would begin finalizing the application immediately and that future project approvals would be presented to the committee and returned to the board for final action.

During the meeting a separate speaker representing workforce services noted the workforce team will move into a downtown building in October to improve access to in-person services; that item was discussed as a news update rather than part of the DRI application decision.

Next steps recorded in the meeting: staff will submit the application by the stated deadline, finalize program materials and bring project applicants to the committee and board for approval if the grant is awarded. The board moved into an executive session after the vote to complete related business.