Jamestown Mayor Sam Teres and City Clerk Jim Olson sit during a public hearing on CDBG/HOME Funding on Monday, April 27. City development Director Vince DeJoy is also seen facing the two other city officials.
JAMESTOWN – The community had an opportunity to learn more about how federal money for local development will be spent during a public hearing Monday at city hall.
City development director Vince DeJoy, Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi and other city officials hosted the hearing, which detailed how city officials would like to use more than $1.3 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
According to DeJoy, $1,052,851 will come from HUD’s Community Development Block Grant program, while another $246,960 comes from the HOME funding.
DeJoy said that based on community input, much of the money this year will again be used for facade restoration projects. However, rather than the focus being on buildings and structures in the immediate downtown area, this year’s funding will most likely focus on the gateways that bring outside visitors into the downtown, including both North Main St. (Route 60) and East Second St. (Route 394).
“We’re still going to be looking at the rehabilitation of commercial facades,” DeJoy said. “But we’re changing our focus to not include the entire downtown area, but to include the East Second St. corridor from Washington St. all the way to the city line and also looking at the North Main St. corridor. Our gateways are our the first impression that tourists and visitors see when it comes to Jamestown, and this next five years we’re looking to dramatically improve the landscape, as well as the neighborhoods that adjoin those corridors.”
The plan is not finalized and anyone wishing to review and offer final input on it has until May 26 to do so. At that time any and all final input will be incorporated into the plan, which will then be reviewed by the city council before it is sent to Washington for its review and eventual approval.
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