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Councilors debate using $247,000 Neighborhood Preservation Program funds for sidewalks after implementation problems
Summary
Councilors pressed staff to either make the Neighborhood Preservation Program work or reallocate roughly $247,000 in the NPP revolving account to sidewalk projects after staff described repeated procurement barriers and contractor/lead-certification problems that stalled loans/grants to homeowners.
Councilors on Meriden’s Human Services Committee debated whether to keep funding the Neighborhood Preservation Program (NPP) or shift roughly $247,000 in a revolving account to sidewalk repairs after staff described multiple implementation failures.
Councilor Bruce Fontanella pressed staff for an explanation of the NPP’s long-standing lack of results and proposed reallocating the $247,000 into sidewalk projects in low-income neighborhoods to put the money to use. "This money is sitting there not being spent," Fontanella said, urging the committee to move the funds to sidewalks if the program will not advance.
Joe Fest, director of economic development, responded that staff…
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