City could seek N.Y. state grants for six projects

KINGSTON, N.Y. » City officials are considering applying for state grants that would help fund six projects, including one to construct sidewalks along most of Flatbush Avenue.

Kingston Grants Manager Kristen Wilson told the Common Council’s Finance and Audit Committee last week that the city is considering applying for seven different grants through the state’s Consolidated Funding Application program. She said the applications are due in July and require council support to be filed.

The applications still are being finalized, so some of the grant amounts could change, Wilson said.

The committee moved forward six different resolutions to allow the city to file the applications. The resolutions must be voted on by the full council, which next meets July 10.

One of the projects for which the city is seeking grant funding is the construction of sidewalks along Flatbush Avenue, from Colonial Gardens to Foxhall Avenue. The project also would include sidewalk reconstruction, bicycle infrastructure and crosswalks, according to provided information. The entire cost of the project would be $6 million to $7 million, and the city is seeking two grants totaling $6.25 million to help fund the work.

The city also is applying for a $60,000 grant to help fund the creation of a pedestrian and bicycle master plan, which would identify critical needs, inventory existing conditions, and develop a recommended set of actionable and prioritized improvements over the next 10 years. The grant would require a $60,000 match.

Other applications include one for a $2 million grant to be used for stabilization improvements along approximately 1,400 feet of Rondout Creek shoreline between the U.S. Route 9W bridge and the Cornell

Steamboat building at 108 East Strand. That would require

a $352,941 match.

The city also is applying for a $600,000 grant, which requires a $200,000 match, for work on the separation of the Kingston Hasbrouck Combined Sewer Overflow Sewershed.

Additionally, the city is seeking a $1.3 million grant, to be matched by $145,000 in local funding, for green infrastructure upgrades in certain municipal parking

lots, as well as a $187,500 grant that would create a marketing campaign to improve the vitality of Kingston’s Uptown area. That grant would require a $62,500 match.