I had been waiting impatiently to find out what the parameters of this year's Consolidated Funding Application Process would be. Initial information was released on June 1, but the application was not accessible until June 17. Shortly thereafter, I went to a grant workshop to learn what needed to be done in the application process for this year. From the workshop until the next Town Board meeting was about 7 business days. In that time, the architects needed to put programming to paper so I could show the Board members a visual on the concept. With lots of other deadlines, it was no mean feat for them to pull off.
The very next Town Board meeting was July 8th, right after the holiday weekend. Long story short, after 2.5 hours of comments, presentation, followed by a short break, the Board voted on my request to relocate the access to a different location, to be specified later. Three votes in favor, one opposed and one abstention. It passed!! Really? It's not completely done, but the ability to center the new building on the combined lots was official. I can count on that, and can file the grant application.
Link to the meeting handouts:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5ZPf_-1MJJda2ZrUzRTbnFkeEE/edit?usp=sharing
After leaving the meeting for a little while to thank people for sitting there all that time, I returned to the Board meeting.
At the very end, a person (whose name I didn't know) asked, "What changed since March?" The denial had seemed final and then, as of tonight, it wasn't.
So what did change?
1. The request. In March, I requested abandonment and yesterday I asked for permission to relocate.
2. The community's support. In March, virtually no heed was paid to the few residents in attendance. Last night, there was no choice but for the residents to be heard.
3. The vision. In March, I drew "word pictures." On Monday, I distributed the architect's sketch of two floors and a sample elevation. The sketches weren't what I had been envisioning, and will be changed, but it was a lot easier for others to see. Vulcan mind meld - not an option.
4. The focus. In March, the Board debated what "abandoned" was and decided it wasn't even worth asking the Town attorney for his take. Last night, the attorney was in the room.
He was eventually allowed to speak and was asked to provide his interpretation of the law. There were many attorneys and other experts in the room, some of whom do not interpret the law the way he does. Like all good attorneys, he said what he thought his "client," the Town Board, wanted to hear.
Who is really the client? The Town Supervisor? Each member of the Board, separately? The Board, collectively? Or is the client really the taxpayers, whose tax and utility bills continue to increase as the Town population and number of businesses continue to decline? And as school enrollment continues to fall because families have such difficulty making enough income to support themselves in Schroon?
Anyway, onward and upward. Just need to write the grant request and translate this community support into letters to go with the grant. The drawings handed out at the meeting are attached.
