GILROY
– The federal government will not be helping Gilroy establish
plans to revitalize its downtown, at least not for now.
GILROY – The federal government will not be helping Gilroy establish plans to revitalize its downtown, at least not for now.
The federal Economic Development Administration told city officials this week it would not award Gilroy the $250,000 grant the city wanted to use to create long-term planning guidelines for downtown. The city had been waiting for the grant money for several weeks so it could begin what may be several months of planning, an effort many believe is necessary to permanently restore economic and aesthetic vitality to downtown.
Gilroy must now either go it alone or wait until April 1 to resubmit the grant request.
“The bad news is we didn’t get the grant,” City Planning Division Manager Bill Faus said. “The good news is they are encouraging us to resubmit.”
In an ideal situation, Faus said, the city could use the “seed money” City Council had earmarked for the downtown revitalization effort now – to begin working on the so-called specific plan – and land the federal grant in the spring. However, federal officials have told the city it could lose its chances for grant money if too much of the project is completed.
“We need to meet with them and determine what we can do without jeopardizing our chances of getting the grant,” Faus said.
Councilman Roland Velasco, a member of the downtown task force, says he is ready to see the planning effort move forward at this time using the seed money the city has set aside. However, that has its complications.
The city set aside $80,000. Already $10,000 of it has been used to pay the grant writer/lobbyist who – so far – has been unsuccessful in landing the grant, leaving only $70,000 to pay a consultant who would draft the specific plan.
The consultant’s contract is based on the full $80,000, so the city would need to renegotiate.
“What I think we need at this time is for staff and the task force to come to the Council and give us a clear idea of the big picture so Council can make a decision,” Velasco said.
Faus said staff and the task force will research all the alternatives for Council by February.
