Downtown Revitalization funds released

by Jacob Courtney

South Central Economic Development District (SCEDD) community consultant Lori Ferguson gave a review and update to the Aurora City Council March 14 about the Downtown Revitalization Project after the release of $435,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds the previous day.
About $400,000 of the funds will soon be made available as forgiveable loans to business owners in a one-block radius of the square for facade improvements. She reported that applicants need to know how to apply and the rules at a meeting scheduled in the coming weeks, afterward the applications will be made available.
“We’ll go over all of that with the businesses,” Ferguson said. “We’re trying to make sure that they have a clear understanding from the initial onset of the project.”
Ferguson began by saying the application submitted in November to the Nebraska Department of Economic Development was accepted. With the city council, JEO Consulting Group and SCEDD following guidelines and signing paperwork, the process for approval was slowed due to the amount of money sent to the department.
“The DED is slammed, there’s no other way of saying that,” she stated. “There’s so much federal money coming to the state level, and they’ve been tasked with administering those funds, getting them out to communities, and so it took a little while for them to review special conditions.”
The next step is to invite business owners to a meeting within the next few weeks to talk about the project and adopt the program’s guidelines.
Some of the information Ferguson relayed was that business owners will need to apply for the grant funds from either executive director of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce Justise Rhoden, executive director for the Aurora Development Corporation Kelsey Bergen or city administrator Rick Melcher. An applicant, a building owner or tenant with owner permission, can apply for up to $50,000 toward projects, contributing 25 percent of the costs, and can request up to $25,000 more within about 90 days.
She also explained that, along with filling out the application, requirements include having the business registered on SAM.gov, the acronym standing for System for Award Management. For those who are looking for more information on how to register, the consultant stated that Chuck Beck with the University of Nebraska-Kearney Nebraska Business Development Center can assist.
Applications are taken on a first-ready, first-served basis.
“So if you get your application today and Rick doesn’t get his until two weeks later, and you both turn in a complete application (at the same time) he is actually ahead of you,” Ferguson explained.
Another part of the application process is an environmental review where every project is vetted by 14 agencies per the National Environmental Policy Act.
“Some are very easy,” she explained. “We don’t have a sole-source aquifer here. We don’t have coastal management issues. So many of them are just checking box A and moving on. Some of that requires more time.”
One of the agencies that Ferguson highlighted was History Nebraska, a history preservation office that changed its name from the Nebraska State Historical Society in 2018. She stated that representatives would like to come and talk with owners on what will work for business and preserving history.
“Because history isn’t just about the architecture of the building,” she said. “It’s also about maybe what happened in the building, the birthplace of a former president or the birthplace of jazz, that kind of thing.”
Then, the downtown revitalization committee will review the application and make a recommendation to the city council.
 SCEDD will provide CDBG administrative services to the City in the implementation of the project, Ferguson stated.  SCEDD’s services (general administration and construction management) will be paid for out of the $435,000 awarded to the City with $400,000 going to the forgivable loans.  
“Too often communities and people think, ‘Wow, the state just dropped $435,000 into the nearest checking account that Barb had handy,’” Ferguson said, referring to Aurora City Clerk Barb Mikkelsen. “It is on a reimbursement basis.”
With the goal of bringing business owners in on the improvement funds, SCEDD will host a meeting not only to those who have reached out about the project, but offering information to the whole square to kick off the event sometime in April, according to Bergen. Part of the goal is to understand all the ins and outs of how the money can be used.
“When you apply for grants, I mean, in some ways, there’s no free money,” Bergen said. “So you have to do a level of work in order to get the funds and you have to follow some guidelines and restrictions. So that kind of comes into play as the drawbacks that you maybe can’t do everything you have in mind for your business, but this will help take care of a chunk of the costs.”
Ferguson stated the project will be completed by May 2025.
“I’m pretty confident in saying that I think we’ll be done before then, provided there are no concerns or hesitancy on the part of the business,” she concluded.
“We will all celebrate when this is done,” Mayor Marlin Seeman stated later.