Woodland Park DDA adopts $200,000 micro grant program and creates two-person grant committee

The Woodland Park Downtown Development Authority approved Resolution 2026-02 to establish a 2026 micro grant program with a $200,000 budget and an application period running March 6–May 1. The program is intended to fund small exterior improvements to properties within the DDA district; city staff will screen applications for technical completeness and a two-person committee will review eligibility against objective criteria.

The board also approved Resolution 2026-03 to create the grant committee and then appointed Eric Cabrera and John Hughes to the two-person panel; both nominees had previously agreed to serve. Under the approved process, both committee members must agree to a grant award; if the committee denies an application, applicants may appeal to the full board.

Directors discussed outreach: Main Street will assist business owners in applying and the program was explicitly written to allow awards for private residences where improvements are publicly visible and benefit the district's appearance. The board noted it had previously allocated $150,000 for the program and disbursed roughly $132,000; increasing the budget to $200,000 expands capacity for additional applicants.

Other business: The board approved a $2,133.50 invoice from its legal counsel as presented in the treasury report.

Next steps: The city will put the online form live and begin accepting applications on Friday (application intake date announced in meeting). The grant committee will review complete applications and forward recommendations for awards; final disbursement requires a board vote after committee approval and execution of a grant agreement.