Lyndonville, Yates work together to pursue Main Street funding
Photo by Tom Rivers: A block of Main Street in Lyndonville, which is largely vacant, is pictured last month. The Village of Lyndonville and Town of Yates are pursuing grant funds for the downtown.
LYNDONVILLE – Town and village officials are working together to pursue grant funds to help with downtown business development.
The Village of Lyndonville and Town of Yates each contributed $1,500 to hire LaBella Associates to pursue grants for Main Street. LaBella assisted Medina with its recent Main Street grant.
The town and village are first pursuing a $20,000 state grant to help with a downtown development plan. If that grant is successful, the village and town want to then pursue a Main Street grant from the state that would likely be several hundred thousand dollars.
The target area for the grants is both sides of Main Street from Riverside Street – north of Johnson Creek – to Eagle Street. John Belson, mayor of Lyndonville, said several of the buildings are vacant and a grant would help the building owners with repairs and renovations.
The village and town are first going after the smaller $20,000 planning grant, hoping that would help them put together a stronger application for the bigger Main Street grant.
“Maybe if we get this one it will open the door up to some others,” Jim Simon, Yates town supervisor, said about the grant.
The applications may also have a better chance of funding because the town and village are applying together, rather than one municipality taking the lead.
The village reached out to the town on the application. Simon said town officials support the effort to revitalize the downtown.
“Anything that is good for the village is good for the town,” Simon said.
