Grantwriter secured $650K for Village of Albion in 2016

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 12 January 2017 at 11:36 am
Photo by Tom Rivers: Scott Baker, owner of Park & Play in Cazenovia, installs new playground equipment at Bullard Park last June. A state grant from Sen. Rob Ortt for $50,000 paid for about half the cost of that equipment.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Scott Baker, owner of Park & Play in Cazenovia, installs new playground equipment at Bullard Park last June. A state grant from Sen. Rob Ortt for $50,000 paid for about half the cost of that equipment.

ALBION – The Village of Albion was awarded $649,629 in grants in 2016, which village officials said was a big turn on its investment in a grantwriter.

“Those are pretty good results,” Mayor Dean London said during Wednesday’s Village Board meeting.

The village in 2015 hired J O’Connell & Associates from Clarence at $34,000 annually to put together grant applications for the village.

The firm had five successful grant applications in 2016, highlighted by $499,605 from the state for improvements at Bullard Park, including a new splash pad, amphitheater and other upgrades.

Other successful grants included:

• $75,000 from the state “Local Initiatives Support Corporation” to address “zombie” properties – a remediation plan for vacant houses.

• $50,000 for Bullard Park from the State. Sen. Robert Ortt through the State and Municipal Facilities Program. Those funds covered about half the costs of the new playground at Bullard.

• $23,344 in a drinking water fluoridation grant through the State Department of Health.

• $1,500 from the Landmark Society of Western New York for study of the chapel at Mount Albion Cemetery.

J O’Connell & Associates submitted a report detailing the grant activity for 2016. The firm also noted a $500,000 grant from the state for Main Street improvements was denied. The village wants to pursue that funding again in 2017.

O’Connell also applied for a grant for a historic marker from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, but was denied in that request.

Other grant applications are pending, including a $267,110 request through FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) for pagers, and $2,000 from the Rochester Area Community Foundation towards a playground.

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