What’s the next step for the three Cayuga County villages seeking Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding?
Aurora, Cayuga, and Union Springs submitted their joint DRI and individual NY Forward applications on Friday.
Cayuga County Associate Planner Kari Terwilliger told Finger Lakes News Radio they’re now waiting on the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) scoring committee to schedule a time for officials to pitch their proposals.
“That’s our opportunity to recap the application and to answer any questions that they have,” Terwilliger said, “as well as for our mayors to give their final plug to the scoring committee as far as why us? Why now? Yes, we’re ready and yes, we’re deserving.”
For REDC purposes, Cayuga County is grouped with Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego Counties as part of the Central New York Region.
Last year was the first year municipalities were allowed to jointly apply for DRIs. Terwilliger added that, to her team’s knowledge, the combined efforts of Aurora, Cayuga, and Union Springs represent the first joint application from the CNY region and the first statewide application with three municipalities working together.
Regardless of whether they receive funding or not, each village’s mayor believes this application process has helped to strengthen the sense of community between each of the villages that share a corridor on Route 90 along Cayuga Lake’s eastern shore.
Union Springs Mayor Robert Thurston Jr had previously said, “I think our villages are working closer than ever before… the collaborations between the villages are there.”
The pitch is expected to take place later this month.
Each regional council will award one $10 million DRI grant and two $4.5 million NY Forward grants. Winners are expected to be announced in January or February.
A look at each village’s NY Forward and joint DRI applications can be found on cayugalakeroute90villages.com.
