June 18th, 2018
HORNELL, NY – Hornell Mayor John Buckley broke the news Monday night that city missed out again on the $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative. Buckley, who just found out earlier in the day, did not know where Hornell finished but it was not in the top 3 communities needed to move on to the next phase. Hornell has applied for the grant the last 2 years, just missing out last year finishing 4th.
Although disappointed, Buckley was still optimistic about the direction of the city and the strides it has made the last few years. “We have a lot of great things going on in the city at the moment, and our city is flourishing even without the grant.”
“We had our hopes up pretty high this year,” Buckley continued, “I worked with Shawn Hogan very closely on this and I thought he did a great job putting out application/presentation together.” Buckley said he hopes for better luck next year when the city reapplies.
In other news the city amended their Mutual Cooperation Agreement with the village of Canisteo on the recommendation of the DEC. Hornell originally signed a 1 year agreement but the DEC wanted a 4 year agreement to ensure a proper transition. Canisteo plans on using Hornell’s Water Treatment Plant head Rich Dunning on a consulting basis. His hours of service have been increased from 8 to 10, and his pay amended to reflect the true cost of his services including benefits.
And finally, on the recommendation of LaBella Associates, the Water treatment Plant upgrades have been amended to relocate monies from one part of the project to another. The amount to be reallocated is $160k.
