A new $400,000 round of Community Development Block Grant funding will soon be available for more downtown revitalization projects in Seward.
A kick-off meeting for this, Seward’s third round of funding, was held at Seward Memorial Library Feb. 17 with 25 people in attendance.
Grants of up to $50,000 per legal parcel will be available, but property/business owners must fund at least 25% of the project cost on their own.
Grant applications will be available March 1 and will be due to City Hall 45 days later, unless otherwise noted, with no exceptions. Applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Applications are available to any business or property owner wishing to make improvements to their property, as long as that property is in the designated Downtown Revitalization District, a map of which may be found at cityofsewardne.gov.
The city was notified Jan. 26 that its application for the funds was approved. Dollars come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.
The grant cycle runs on a strict timeline – projects must go from start to finish in about two years – and projects must fit certain requirements, with projects in this round focusing on façade improvements or structural/code compliance.
How it works
Kelly Gentrup, economic development specialist with the Southeast Nebraska Development District, gave an overview of project requirements.
Those wishing to pursue a project must get two bids from qualified contractors to submit along with their application. SENDD has available a list of pre-approved contractors; others not on the list must be approved before work can begin.
Applications will be submitted to City Hall. SENDD will then review them for completeness, and a Tier 2 environmental review of the project will be completed. From there, projects will go to Seward’s Downtown Revitalization Committee for approval and will ultimately be approved or denied by the Seward City Council, with the mayor issuing notice of final approval.
Once an application is approved, construction must be completed within about 16 months.
A 60-month lien is placed on the property, and those completing the project must remain in compliance with all CDBG requirements for at least five years.
“If you change ownership or somehow get into default with the project itself, the city could ask for that money back,” Gentrup said.
Applicants must also be able to secure short-term financing for the project, as they will be required to start paying contractors before they receive the grant funds.
Contractors working on DTR projects must follow additional requirements, Gentrup said.
Historic preservation important
Betty Gillespie, review and compliance coordinator for the State Historic Preservation Office, said all projects that will affect the historical accuracy and integrity of downtown buildings must first get approval from the SHPO.
In her reviews, Gillespie focuses on the historic nature of important events, people, architecture or archaeology in the area being renovated. She looks at the original location of a building’s features and the materials that would have been used originally.
Seward’s courthouse square was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. At that time, 64 structures were a part of the historic district. Though there is much overlap, that district is different from the area eligible for downtown revitalization projects.
Gillespie shared examples of appropriate and inappropriate projects that would either be approved or denied by her office.
Appropriate projects include tuck-pointing, adding signs, repainting or restoring windows to their original size, among others.
In the inappropriate column are projects like installing metal awnings (or any other type of awning that would not have been used on the original structure), painting brick that was not previously painted, installing vinyl windows or covering up windows.
“These that don’t comply or who choose to do the project anyway will slow down the process and may not get grant funding,” Gillespie said.
She encouraged those wishing to complete an improvement project to research and understand what’s already been done to the building before applying.
A committment
Seward City Administrator Greg Butcher reminded those in attendance of the strict timeline for the project.
“Last time, we had a lot of projects that didn’t get started in a timely manner or they didn’t end up doing it at all,” Butcher said.
That resulted in the city opening a second round of applications to re-release those unused dollars.
“Then they had to scramble to get those (projects) done by the deadline,” Butcher said.
He added that this is Phase Three of Seward’s Downtown Revitalization Plan, which had to be devised long before businesses could apply for previous rounds of grants.
Butcher noted much interest from business owners in working on other improvements to the downtown area, but the city is not allowed to spend money on improvements not previously identified in the plan.
“We want to close out Phase Three so we can move on to a new planning grant to start on those new projects,” he said, hoping to finish the current phase by summer 2023.
If applicants don’t start work by a formal deadline, Butcher said their application will be moved to the end of the line and they likely won’t get CDBG funding.
Butcher said last time, applications were ranked and scored by how much the business/property owner was willing to match on the cost. When numbers changed or the applicant changed their mind, the city had to re-rank the order. That won’t happen again.
This time, applications will be considered on a first-come, first-serve basis. They will be stamped with the date and time received when submitted to City Hall.
“We’re going to move you along quite quickly,” Butcher said. “If you’re going to put in for a project, be 100% committed to doing it.”
Those who have already received funding to complete projects in previous phases are eligible again.
Applications and additional information will be available March 1 at cityofsewardne.gov. For questions, contact Butcher at (402) 643-2928, Gentrup at (402) 475-2560 or Gillespie at (402) 805-7392.
