BELLEFONTE — Some buildings in the downtown business district of Philipsburg may get a facelift if the Philipsburg Revitalization Corporation can secure available state Department of Community and Economic Development funding for facade improvement.
Philipsburg’s Main Street Manager Dana Shoemaker visited the Centre County Commissioners on Oct. 11 and asked the board to sign a letter of support for the grant.
“In Philipsburg right now, if something opens or someone builds it, they will come,” Shoemaker said. “We’re loading the tools in our toolbox to bring more to our little community, and this is going to be a great start. We just need to secure the funding.”
According to Shoemaker, improvement grants for downtown projects were all but non-existent last year due to the budget crisis, but this year, she said the state has opened up $6 million in funding for these kinds of downtown business improvement projects. Shoemaker said the PRC is seeking a $50,000 slice of that pie.
“The funding will be used for improvements on the outside of buildings in the Keystone Designated areas,” she said. “This may include the re-pointing of bricks, mortar work and even window replacement.”
She said several business and building owners have expressed interest in the funding. Those who qualify for each $5,000 grant must provide at least a $5,000 match of private investment. Shoemaker said two of the suspected projects would include matches of more than $15,000 in private investor money.
“People are starting to realize it is much less expensive to do business in Philipsburg,” said Shoemaker. “If our properties are looking good, we’re going to attract even more people. And, these improvement grants won’t just help the looks of the buildings. They’ll also make structural improvements that are much needed on several of our older buildings.”
According to Shoemaker, the PRC and Main Street Program initiated a round of state DCED grants for facade improvements in 2008. She said they were all successful.
“I think we did six or seven projects back then, including state Rep. Scott Conklin’s office on Presqueisle Street and Grattan’s Pharmacy and the Finberg Building on Front Street,” she said. “Those projects made a huge difference in the look of downtown Philipsburg.”
The commissioners voted unanimously to approve sending a letter of support for the facade grant improvement funding.
In other business, the commissioners:
- Heard from Commissioner Steve Dershem concerning registered voter numbers. He said as of the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 11 (the last official day to register for the General Election), there were 119,646 registered voters in Centre County. Director of Elections Joyce McKinley visited the meeting and said she expects several more applications to be filed on Oct. 11 and said there will be a record number of registered voters in the county in 2016.
- Approved a Business Incubator Consulting Agreement between the county and Rural Business Innovation Corporation to provide consulting services and temporary operational support and implementation of a Business Incubator Program for Centre County in the Bellefonte area for the purpose of economic development efforts. Time will be billed at a rate of $45 per hour including travel time and a travel expense of 70-cents per mile for on-site visits. A cap of $8,000 will be in place.
- Approved an Early Intervention Evidence Based Implementation Grant between the county and Tuscarora Intermediate Unit No. 11 to allow TIU, through the Department of Human Services-Office of Child Development and Early Learning, to disburse grant funds to approved grantees for training and technical assistance to early intervention programs. These state funds have been awarded to programs to focus on a program priority area addressing social relationships, language and early literacy or early childhood outcomes.
- Approved a contract between the county and Eagle Ridge Personal Care Home, LLC to provide mental health supported living services. The contract total is $25,000 with $23,830 coming from the state and $1,170 from the county.
- Approved a contract renewal between the county and Muhammad Qamar, MD, to provide mental health outpatient services to include psychiatric evaluations and medication reviews. The contract total is $10,000 with $9,532 coming from the state and $468 from the county.
