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2010 NY State Main Street Award to Beacon
In late August, Gov. Patterson awarded Beacon $500,000 in funds for Main Street renewal. This was applied for by Pat Manning and Spencer Gallop (actual grant writer) on behalf of the Beacon Chamber of Commerce. The monies and program will be administered by Pat Manning and The Beacon Group (his "company"). for the Chamber as a paid Admin. Not much is known to the Beacon general public except for a tidbit here and there. Pat has spoken about partnering with Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union to secure loans for property owners that will need financial help for the matching portion of the Award program and he has mentioned something about "parking" signs that will be put up in town to direct people to parking areas.
Does anyone know which buildings are included and when this work will start? Since these are public funds and both the Beacon Chamber of Commerce and The Beacon Group, Pat Manning, believe in being trasparent in dealing with and about the City, can either shed light on the scope of the project for us? It is an exciting pogram and would be nice to know what is going on.
Also it would be cool to have pictures of the building facades before and after for the Historical Society. So often we make changes and forget to make a record of it for the future.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Scott Tillitt on -
The building that houses BEAHIVE, 291 Main St, is getting a small part of those funds for continued facade improvement (accent lighting, cornice rehab and some other stuff). I know some funds will go toward sidewalk beautification in front of Key Food (trees and stuff). The grant applies to the area from there up to Fishkill Ave or Schneck Ave, I think.
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Permalink Reply by JoAnne Meyer on -
Who gets to decide where the money goes? Why isn't it the Mayors' job to decide where this money goes for the city? Shouldn't other people be involved in this dispersement? Why isn't Mr. Manning shouting from the roof tops that he recieved this grant for Beacon?
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Permalink Reply by Scott Tillitt on
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As I understand, building owners were approached and asked to submit proposals before the grant application was submitted. At least that's the case with our building.
And there has been some publicity around the awarding of the grant. I presume there will be more once it starts to get implemented. -
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Permalink Reply by Cate Todd on -
how about some improvements to the facade of Rite Aid? since companies are supposed to match the funds (right?) it seems like maybe Rite Aid corporate would be a good candidate to fork over some money. that building looks pretty terrible (though not as bad as the liquor store across the street).
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Permalink Reply by Renee Q. on -
So Scott, you guys were approached? Are you one of the buildings involved? I m just curious as to which building we will be seeing improvements on. The middle of the street needs so much help and it comes as a good thing for Beacon. Is there anyone out there who knows which buildings and when they are starting? I assume that since Pat is in charge of it for the Chamber that he would know but he is very silent on this. We all should be screaming from the roof top about how wonderful this is. Come on Pat..tell us the good news (or anyone in the Chaber who knows).
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Permalink Reply by Hollis Bogdanffy-Kriegh on -
What wonderful news! I would love to know how the town is going to benefit from this. Beacon has so many great buildings that need help. Also, I would love to know whether there will be money available for public landscaping!
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Permalink Reply by Spencer Lee Gallop on
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Dear Beacon Citizens,
I'd like to take some time to clarify some misconceptions regarding our New York Main Street Award.
For starters, Mr. Manning and I worked together for months, compiling the necessary data, talking to different business and property owners, and co-wrote this extensive, detailed application for our targeted area known as Market Square. It is no secret that the middle of Main Street needed some attention, and this grant program is tailored for precisely this sort of neighborhood. Let it be known here that I was not the "actual" grant writer for the Main Street Grant, nor will I be the "actual" grant writer for future proposals. While I won't downplay my own writing abilities, I could not have written this grant on my own. Pat Manning is really a master of the written word, and the City owes him a thank you for getting a half a million dollars, rather than berating him on a public online forum.
As far as the allocation of funds is concerned, we took it upon ourselves to select properties most eligible for this competitive program, but not before we sent out a letter to every tax parcel in the middle of Main Street, and then met with the individuals who met the program's criteria. While writing the proposal, Pat and I had several meetings with the City's administration, who approved our decisions and our approach, and the Common Council provided a resolution of support for our plan. The money from this program is awarded to small areas, usually no more than three blocks, but the State made an exception for our proposal and allowed us to spread the money over about four and a half blocks.
Lastly, I'd like to rectify all comments regarding Pat, myself, or anyone else not announcing our award. On three separate occasions, the $500,000 grant was in the newspaper: twice on the Beacon Free Press, and once in the Poughkeepsie Journal.
I hope that this clears up any and all confusion regarding the New York Main Street Grant.
For further information regarding the grant guidelines, feel free to go to
Cheers,
-Spencer Lee Gallop. -
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Permalink Reply by Cate Todd on
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Hi Spencer - Thanks for responding to let us know the details about this, and of course enormous thanks to you and Pat Manning for writing and securing this grant for Beacon!
I think what some of us are wondering is which specific buildings ended up being chosen after the exhaustive selection process you described, and what are the plans? I know I'm excited to know the improvements that are going to be done! Is there anyway you could post the winning grant application so we can check out the CoC's great work?
Thanks again!
Cate -
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Permalink Reply by James Watkins on
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I second Cate's comment. No need to be defensive. It just would be great to hear how this grant will be spent in our small city. I actually don't understand the lack of sunshine here. But let's just get this out in the open and out of the way -- are any of the grant beneficiaries also paying clients of anyone connected with the Beacon Chamber of Commerce?
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