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Published February 19, 2016 in the Rutland Herald
Springfield, Chester get “Strong Communities, Better Connections” state grants
By SUSAN SMALLHEER
Staff Writer
SPRINGFIELD – The towns of Springfield and Chester have gotten a boost from the state of Vermont in their efforts to make their downtowns more user-friendly for both residents and visitors.
Springfield, which received $67,500, and Chester, which received $50,000, will match the state funds with a 10 percent contribution, according to the two towns’ town managers.
The money comes from the “Strong Communities, Better Connections” grant program run jointly by the Agency of Transportation and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. The grants will help the two towns to “align land use planning and community revitalization efforts with transportation investments.”
Springfield Town Manager Tom Yennerell said that the town had put the grant application together in December and set aside the $6,700 local match during the budget sessions. He credited the work of Springfield On The Move and the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission in preparing the grant.
“I think that the regional planning commission did the bulk of the work,” Yennerell said Thursday. “Springfield On The Move and myself worked with them to complete the grant application.”
He said the money would be used to hire a consultant to look at improving the downtown, including identifying new parking along Main Street and improving pedestrian access along River Street, from the Comtu Cascades Park to One Hundred River Street, the former Fellows Gear Shaper building.
“We will hire a consultant. When you need them, you need them,” he said.
He said the plan would also study the two main intersections in the downtown area, at Main, Park and Summer streets, and at Clinton, South and Mineral streets.
“More importantly, we’ll be looking at streetscapes at both ends of Main Street and improving the appearance,” said Yennerell. He said the town also hoped to improve the traffic signals in the downtown area.
Chester Town Manager David Pisha said that Chester was receiving in the neighborhood of $50,000, and that the town had set aside the 10 percent match.
He, too, said the town would hire a consultant to help work with townspeople on what improvements they wanted to see in the village area.
“Our plan is to engage the community in a number of focus groups and find out what they would like to see go forward in our main village area,” said the manager, and whether new signs, trails or an enhanced town website was needed. “We’ll look at anything to bring people to town, and enhance our economic base. “
One thing that Pisha suggested was an electric car charging station.
“We’re probably looking for a consultant to help us with that work and bring to bear the skills that would really help us to just coordinate the whole process, “ he said.
The consultant would bring an outside expert perspective, he said, as well as help focus people’s ideas and energies.
Chester already has a designated downtown, he said, and this grant will help the town enhance that.
“We’re very excited. It’s an important step for the future,” he said.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20160219/NEWS02/160219388
Instead of paying a consultant for more parking and pedestrian access, how about getting more businesses into all the empty storefronts. We don't need parking when there is no attraction to get to. None of the surrounding towns have the store vacancies that we continue to have. The appearance of our downtown is appalling and shameful. How about changing long standing town attitudes toward businesses, and change them to be supportive and encouraging. Get businesses in that can actually make money downtown and ease our tax burden.
ReplyDeleteNo one has any disagreement with your point. The primary obstacle to any profitable enterprise flourishing in Springfield is demographics. 2/3 of Springfield's residents are low income. Appears all the ills of having the highest dropout rate in Vermont, prison release housing, recovery centers, section eight housing, mental health group homes, and countless disability scammers has doomed the community. Some of us predicted the chickens would come home to roost. Now our Main Street and grand list give proof.
DeleteNow, given the critical mass of selfish parasites and liberals, any effort to democratically affect change is impossible. I think moving to Flint would be an improvement.
"Two-thirds of Springfield's residents are low income" is a rather broad stroke of the brush. Here's what I submitted for inclusion in the Town Plan's chapter on housing:
ReplyDelete"This chart shows [sorry, cant reproduce it in this blog] in red the percentage of Springfield tax filers in 2013 in each income category and in green the percentage of total community income.While average income in 2012 was $43,690 (blue bar), the more realistic figure— the income at which half earned more and half earned less— was $35,193 (est., 2013). This indicates that half the households in Springfield would not be eligible to purchase a home under one of the most affordable programs, Rural Development, costing more than $84,000. The average sale price for homes in 2014 was $113,000.
"As home ownership is a significant factor in community stability, Springfield needs to pay attention to affordability.
"The median household income, $35,193, is a somewhat helpful benchmark in determining the affordability of housing when we consider livable wage. Livable wage is the amount needed to support a family if all adults in the household work. In Windsor County it ranges from $22,630 for a single adult to $70,158 for a single adult with three children. "
So, depending on household size, we might have 2/3ds of Springfielders in a sub-livable wage situation, but I think that's unlikely. We definitely have a lot of households that can't afford to buy the average Springfield house .