NEW LEBANON – The Town Board has taken a major step forward in their quest for NY Main Street Grant monies for revitalizing historic and mixed-use neighborhoods, commercial districts and village centers. If New Lebanon wins final approval, participants would receive 75 percent of the money needed for their specific projects from the state, while kicking in the final 25 percent themselves.
To be eligible, the town must first submit design guidelines, the purpose of which will be to provide clear direction and associated checklists for town staff, review boards, and applicants on the desired aesthetics of the downtown area. More specifically, the design guidelines should be visual in nature and include conceptual renderings, photographs, and other items necessary to clearly illustrate appropriate design principles for residential and commercial buildings, storefronts, streetscapes, landscapes, sites plan and signage.
New Lebanon has received a $20,000 grant from the New York Main Street program to prepare these design guidelines. At a special Town Board meeting on February 28, the board awarded the work to In-Site Architecture of Geneva, who submitted the winning bid of $22,000. Town Supervisor Tistrya Houghtling said the board decided to kick in the other $2,000 “as a show of their good faith.”
Also at the meeting, a second round of bidding for repairs and renovations to the kitchen at the town pavilion once again failed to garner any response. Supervisor Houghtling told those at the special meeting, she is aware of a local contractor who is interested in the job but was unable to acquire the required insurance before the bid closed. She indicated this local business has since been successful in retaining the needed insurance rider and suggested the board put the bid out one more time, hopeful the local business or perhaps another will apply.