January and February Mornings With the Manager meetings, while sparsely attended, have proved to be noteworthy. Ron Alden, Village manager and Jim Perialas, Economic Development, have been busy garnering grants and advertising village events.
The Hiawatha Project is on track. The paperwork has been re-submitted with a refurbished bid package and will go out to contractors soon. Work should begin late March or early April this year.
Alden and Perialas jointly commented on a 3.5 million dollar grant that has been applied for to extend and complete water and sewer lines to the industrial park. The grant is a 60/40 match. The Environmental Development Authority (EDA) has a 2025 project completion date. The availability of water and sewers should encourage more growth in that area. Interest has been shown in development in that area. However, without water and sewers in place, the cost would currently be prohibitive for individual developers.
Alden has applied for an Adaptive Underprivileged grant to help lower income households with their water bills.
A 5.2 million dollar “Community Partner,” 100% funded no match grant, has been applied for that would help with Gahagan and Metro Park walking paths, AuSable River Center pavilion, as well as other pedestrian areas if awarded.
The Chase Bank building, to be known as The Common Spot, is coming along. It will house Roscos Coney Island, a breakfast/lunch venue, drive through coffee shop at the former bank drive through, and an arcade. On the “Wish List” for that location is a brewery.
There will be a delay in the progress of the former Baum’s/Tin Fish property until the spring of 2025. The Uncommonly Good building has been auctioned. While the “business owners” did not garner the bid, it is hoped that Uncommonly Good may continue operating at the current location.
MEDC, MOM grants (Match on Main Street), are currently on hold. SCORE, where former or current business owners’ mentor new business owners, is set to roll out in spring 2024. SCORE is a nonprofit organization through the U.S. Small Business Administration, that is driven to foster vibrant small business communities through mentoring and educational workshops. This program is part of an eleven county, one million dollar plus grant.
Perialas stated that Roctober Fest will be moved to the first week of October. Village Council meetings are now on ZOOM, plus U-Tube for previous meetings.
Monthly Mornings With the Manager are held the third Thursday of each month at 9:00 a.m. at the Village hall. Any interested parties are invited to attend and need not be residents of Roscommon Village. Coffee and sweet rolls are provided.
