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The Quoddy Tides newspaper -- Eastport, Maine
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November 13, 2015
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Downtown revitalization funding at risk
by Lora Whelan

 

   The communities of Calais, Eastport and Machias C as well as another 27 around the state -- may be affected by the proposed elimination of the Department of Economic and Community Development's (DECD) funding to the Maine Downtown Center (MDC). The three Washington County communities are part of the MDC Downtown Network program that guides downtown revitalization using the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street approach, a model with 35 years of success.
     Community members involved in downtown revitalization gathered on November 4 to testify in support of continued funding through the DECD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to the Maine Downtown Center. At risk is $500,000 per year that for a while now has been designated annually to the Maine Downtown Center through the DECD program. Instead, DECD would utilize that and other federal HUD CDBG funds for a program targeting illegal drug activity through the new project, Maine Safe Neighborhoods.
      At risk is an annual infusion of $100,000 for MDC program areas and $400,000 for downtown revitalization grants, says MDC Main Street State Coordinator and Senior Program Manager Lorain Francis. While the MDC line item would not be removed from the DECD 2016 proposed budget of over $10 million, DECD spokesperson Douglas Ray explains that it would be zeroed out unless more federal HUD funds become available and the need is pressed by proponents with specific projects in mind.
     Funding previously earmarked for downtown revitalization would be used instead for the Maine Safe Neighborhoods program, which is not to be confused with the federal Department of Justice Project Safe Neighborhoods program targeting communities at high risk of gun‑ and gang‑related crimes. The DECD proposal states of the Maine Safe Neighborhood's mission, "[It] provides resources to support new or expanded local law enforcement and crime prevention programming in designated neighborhoods which will benefit low/moderate income (LMI) persons. These funds will help alleviate illegal drug activity, violent crime and property crime, which will benefit residents." 
     Public testimony in support of maintaining the downtown revitalization CDBG funding strategy included a number of Main Street Maine community members as well as others who have worked on revitalization projects. The MDC currently runs 10 Main Street Maine and 20 Maine Downtown Network revitalization program areas. Figures were collected by the Maine Downtown Center from participating downtowns from 2002 to 2013 that show: total amount of reinvestment in physical improvements from public and private sources was $224.5 million; net gain in businesses, 325; net gain in part‑time jobs, 313; net gain in full‑time jobs, 1,038; number of building rehabilitations and improvements, 832; volunteer hours, 264,257; reinvestment ratio, $24.10 reinvested for every $1 spent. Eastport alone can point to downtown sidewalks, lighting, amphitheatre, facade programs and more that were partially funded through the CDBG program.
     Kevin Bunker, a principal of Developers Collaborative, states, "Since 2007, Developers Collaborative has completed over $200 million of development in places like Livermore Falls, Orono, Waterville, Lewiston and Augusta, as well as Portland, South Portland, Biddeford and Westbrook." He adds, "When trying to find good investments, I absolutely do think differently about places that have enough going for them that they are able to organize a Main Street group. It means I won't be speaking a foreign language when I discuss smart growth. It means my projects already have advocates built in, which leads to success with town councils and planning boards. It means that there are others in town hoping to build off any successes I may have." He adds, "Am I more likely to invest in a place with an active, well run Main Street program? Unequivocally, yes. It's a good sign that conditions exist for me to be successful with my particular brand of investment."
     Hugh French, coordinator for Eastport's Downtown Network program, says of the potential change, "The proposed elimination of the state's Downtown Revitalization funding program and elimination of state support of the Maine Downtown Center are both incredibly shortsighted. Historic downtowns throughout Maine are the heart and soul of these communities. Witness the remarkable transformation of Eastport's downtown over the past dozen years." He continues, "This would not have happened without funding support from programs such as the Downtown Revitalization program and the support and advice of the Maine Downtown Center. Eliminating this state support will jeopardize whether the Maine Downtown Network can continue, and make it all that much harder to sustain momentum to revitalize downtowns."
     Francis and Gardiner Main Street Director Patrick Wright point to the national trend of both millennials and aging baby boomers to want to live in downtowns. Wright says, "Downtowns are an essential quality that they look for." He adds that many of Maine's downtowns have all the positive qualities but not the downsides of larger cities found elsewhere. Francis elaborates, "The national trend is for communities that are walkable, age‑in‑place, with safe neighborhoods and events that are integral to the communities."
     While DECD's Ray suggests that the Maine Safe Neighborhoods project is in response to the "proliferation of illegal drug activity around the state," and thus addresses the impacts of blight through an alternative avenue to revitalization, Bunker states, "Enforcement is a failed policy, for one, and does little for communities in the long term. Prevention, however, can work, and is more in line with the community development spirit of the CDBG program." Ray explains that the new projects funding would be used for new and expanded law enforcement amongst other areas, and is following models from around the country that utilize CDBG funds for that purpose.

Public testimony on the proposed funding changes ends on Saturday, November 14

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