At the conclusion of the city council meeting Monday, August 10, Councilwoman Christine Bello expressed her dismay as she revealed that Newburgh may have lost $1,750,000 in grant money from the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA.) As documented in correspondence with the EDA, there was a breakdown in communications, with no response from the city after the city sent a letter in January 2009 to the EDA until Ms. Bello heard from the EDA on July 31.
The EDA grant was meant “to support the creation of a Medical Technology Office Park and the construction of a Medical Technology Incubator Building,” according to the agreement passed by the city council on May 27, 2003. Voting to approve the resolution were then Councilman Valentine, Councilwoman Angelo, Councilman Rockafellow, and Mayor Marino.
The reasons for losing the grant include noncompliance with certain “special award conditions,” such as the city’s failure to conduct an archeological survey to gain clearance from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Another issue was the lack of completion of the project, and exceeding the original time line.
“Why are we in this situation?” Bello asked.
On Thursday, August 13, at 6:00 p.m. the Newburgh City Council will hold a work session at 83 Broadway, Newburgh, NY. The agenda will include an “EDA grant update.” Additional agenda items include Jim Mercer of the Mercer Group, the firm hired to conduct the city manager search; property sales, and a presentation by the Industrial Development Agency.
Councilwoman Bello’s full remarks (15:00):
[...] The mayor has apparently erred once again in naming his apparent favorite federal agency, HUD. The $1.75M grant now at issue is from the Economic Development Administration, a branch of the Department of Commerce. HUD is [...]
[...] McKenna also gives quite an optimistic update on the West Street Medical Tech Project, which is the project currently under scrutiny due to the potential partial or total loss of a $1.75 million grant from the Economic Development [...]