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Scottsbluff council authorizes CDBG downtown revitalization grant application
Summary
After a public hearing, the City Council approved a resolution authorizing the city to apply for a Community Development Block Grant to fund façade and downtown revitalization work covering roughly 14th to 23rd streets, with a 75% reimbursement model and administrative set-asides.
The Scottsbluff City Council voted to authorize the city to apply for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for a downtown revitalization program after a public hearing where Panhandle Area Development District grant manager David Vilenco described the proposal.
Vilenco told the council the project service area would generally run from 14th to 23rd streets and one to one-and-a-half blocks off Broadway. The program, he said, would allow businesses to apply for façade improvements — windows, doors, signs or awnings — and receive up to 75 percent reimbursement for eligible work. Vilenco said the request uses the state program maximum and that the application included a soft per-project cap of about $50,000. He also said the proposed budget includes $25,000 for administration and $10,000 for construction management.
“Basically, the match is 25 percent and that’ll come from the businesses themselves,” Vilenco said, while describing that owners must pay up front and receive reimbursement on an invoice basis. He noted the state’s environmental review requirements and said the city must await the award before beginning application reviews and accepting formal applications.
Council discussion focused on minor edits to application language and a standard question from a member about the residential anti-displacement/relocation assistance exhibit. City staff said that exhibit is a standard CDBG-required document and would be handled according to program rules. Staff also noted a typographical error on the draft application (a mislabeling of the jurisdiction as a “village” on one page) and said staff would correct it before submission.
Following the hearing and discussion, the council approved the resolution authorizing submission of the CDBG downtown revitalization application and authorized the mayor to sign the application documents so the grant manager could submit the application that evening.
The council’s approval clears the city to pursue up to the program maximum in state-administered CDBG funds and begins the state-mandated environmental review that must be completed before grant funds are expended.
