City looking to file for Chapter 43D grant to get urban renewal money

By Owen Boss GARDNER — Economic Development Coordinator Kevin Flynn presented the Finance Committee with plans for the city to file a Chapter 43D expedited permitting grant application that would potentially provide the city with up to $135,000 toward urban renewal projects, and the motion was referred to City Council and will be voted on at the council’s Monday meeting. In order to receive funding, Mr. Flynn said that the city has to designate certain parcels of land that meet the threshold criteria, and designate them as priority development sites. Mr. Flynn added that if the city can show that it has more than 100 acres of these sites, they can ask for additional funding. “In order to receive the funding the community designates priority development sites, then they apply to the state to get approval that those sites are priority development areas,” said Mr. Flynn. “The standard is that we can get up to $100,000, but if we are applying for more than 100 acres of land or a project of significant impact, we can request up to $150,000.” According to Mr. Flynn, because the city plans to designate 162 acres as priority development sites, they are requesting approximately $135,000. Mr. Flynn said that the money acquired through the grant funding can be used to further various urban renewal projects, and that offering this application request to the council is the first step toward acquiring the funding, but there is still work to be done. “This money could be used for the many projects that have to be done, we have to do various traffic studies and we’re also looking at implementing standard permitting software which all of our city’s budgets could eventually run on,” said Mr. Flynn. “This is the first step, but it’s an important first step.” Mayor Mark Hawke said that applying for this particular grant was particularly important for the city because it would be quickly enacted. “The great thing about applying for 43D is that it allows one developer the ability to deal with only one board,” said Mr. Hawke. “Once this application is full and complete and the committee has everything it requires we can have an answer in 180 days.” oboss@thegardnernews.com Appeared on Page 3 on 5/16/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 117)