City Drops Alleyway Improvement Money For 2017
November 22, 2016 at 9:16 p.m.
By David [email protected]
The funding is provided to Warsaw Community Development Corp. to administer the grant dollars to downtown Warsaw businesses.
The council was reviewing its 2017 not-for-profit funding when Councilman Jerry Frush made the motion to eliminate the grant, with Councilman Ron Shoemaker providing the second.
“I wanted to drop the $10,000 for alley funding. They haven’t used it forever, so why do we keep it in there?” Frush asked.
“There’s potential it could be used next year,” Mayor Joe Thallemer responded.
Councilman Ron Shoemaker agreed with Frush, saying the city could use that money for something else. Thallemer said the money had to be appropriated now or it wouldn’t be in next year’s budget.
“There’s a good chance that it will be used this year,” he said.
He asked Frush if he had talked to the WCDC about eliminating the alleyway grant funding. Frush said he had not.
Voting in favor of eliminating the grant were Shoemaker, Frush, Cindy Dobbins and Mike Klondaris. Opposed were Jeff Grose, Diane Quance and Jack Wilhite.
At an August Board of Public Works and Safety meeting, Shoemaker, Frush, Dobbins and Klondaris spoke out against the Board approving an alley encroachment agreement between the city and Urban Retrend LLC. The agreement was approved anyway.
Urban Retrend, owned by David Gustafson, operates Three Crowns Coffee and Oak & Alley at 114 S. Buffalo St. The encroachment agreement will allow Urban Retrend to use the alley between Gustafson’s building and City Hall for outdoor dining. The alleyway improvement funding could help support Urban Retrend with its alley plans.
After Monday’s city council meeting, Dobbins said Urban Retrend could apply for the $10,000 facade grant. Thallemer said it could still receive a grant from 2016 money, and there were other options.
At the beginning of the nonprofit funding discussion, Dobbins suggested keeping all funding for 2017 at the 2016 levels despite the request for increases.
Wilhite reminded her that Housing Opportunities of Warsaw dropped its request for funding in 2016 but requested funding for 2017 for a grant match, so that would be an exemption, and Dobbins agreed.
Quance said she’d like to keep funding for the Center for Lakes and Streams at $10,000 because the city was getting valuable information from them and the organization has supplemented the city’s wastewater treatment staff. Once she realized the $10,000 was what the center received in 2016, and that it had asked for $15,000 in 2017, Quance said that funding should be increased to $15,000 for 2017. Klondaris made the motion to approve it at $15,000 and it was unanimously approved.
Dobbins brought up Kosciusko Senior Services’ request to increase its funding to $20,000 in 2017 from $15,000. The council approved leaving it at $15,000 for next year.
Thallemer read the list, saying Senior Services was at $15,000; Animal Welfare League at $19,000; CCAC at $31,000; KABS at $18,500, with another $9,000 for capital management; WCDC, $17,500; Housing Authority, $30,000; HOW, $25,000; Center for Lakes and Streams, $15,000; and leaving the facade grant but eliminating the alleyway grant.
Last, the council voted to give the Kosciusko Historical Society $1,000 in 2017. Frush abstained from the vote because he’s involved in the organization, but he spoke about how the Old Jail Museum needs its elevator fixed and it will cost the organization about $4,000.
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The funding is provided to Warsaw Community Development Corp. to administer the grant dollars to downtown Warsaw businesses.
The council was reviewing its 2017 not-for-profit funding when Councilman Jerry Frush made the motion to eliminate the grant, with Councilman Ron Shoemaker providing the second.
“I wanted to drop the $10,000 for alley funding. They haven’t used it forever, so why do we keep it in there?” Frush asked.
“There’s potential it could be used next year,” Mayor Joe Thallemer responded.
Councilman Ron Shoemaker agreed with Frush, saying the city could use that money for something else. Thallemer said the money had to be appropriated now or it wouldn’t be in next year’s budget.
“There’s a good chance that it will be used this year,” he said.
He asked Frush if he had talked to the WCDC about eliminating the alleyway grant funding. Frush said he had not.
Voting in favor of eliminating the grant were Shoemaker, Frush, Cindy Dobbins and Mike Klondaris. Opposed were Jeff Grose, Diane Quance and Jack Wilhite.
At an August Board of Public Works and Safety meeting, Shoemaker, Frush, Dobbins and Klondaris spoke out against the Board approving an alley encroachment agreement between the city and Urban Retrend LLC. The agreement was approved anyway.
Urban Retrend, owned by David Gustafson, operates Three Crowns Coffee and Oak & Alley at 114 S. Buffalo St. The encroachment agreement will allow Urban Retrend to use the alley between Gustafson’s building and City Hall for outdoor dining. The alleyway improvement funding could help support Urban Retrend with its alley plans.
After Monday’s city council meeting, Dobbins said Urban Retrend could apply for the $10,000 facade grant. Thallemer said it could still receive a grant from 2016 money, and there were other options.
At the beginning of the nonprofit funding discussion, Dobbins suggested keeping all funding for 2017 at the 2016 levels despite the request for increases.
Wilhite reminded her that Housing Opportunities of Warsaw dropped its request for funding in 2016 but requested funding for 2017 for a grant match, so that would be an exemption, and Dobbins agreed.
Quance said she’d like to keep funding for the Center for Lakes and Streams at $10,000 because the city was getting valuable information from them and the organization has supplemented the city’s wastewater treatment staff. Once she realized the $10,000 was what the center received in 2016, and that it had asked for $15,000 in 2017, Quance said that funding should be increased to $15,000 for 2017. Klondaris made the motion to approve it at $15,000 and it was unanimously approved.
Dobbins brought up Kosciusko Senior Services’ request to increase its funding to $20,000 in 2017 from $15,000. The council approved leaving it at $15,000 for next year.
Thallemer read the list, saying Senior Services was at $15,000; Animal Welfare League at $19,000; CCAC at $31,000; KABS at $18,500, with another $9,000 for capital management; WCDC, $17,500; Housing Authority, $30,000; HOW, $25,000; Center for Lakes and Streams, $15,000; and leaving the facade grant but eliminating the alleyway grant.
Last, the council voted to give the Kosciusko Historical Society $1,000 in 2017. Frush abstained from the vote because he’s involved in the organization, but he spoke about how the Old Jail Museum needs its elevator fixed and it will cost the organization about $4,000.
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