In Spring 2022, Congressman Joe Courtney secured a $700,000 award from the Community Project Fund for the renovation of Scotland Town Hall. The grant will be administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In order to receive it, we have had to complete an arduous application process. Earlier this week we were informed that we have completed the process successfully. The funds will be released after a public notice period that begins today and ends on January 18. 2023. The Public Notice pertains to the Environmental Assessment that is part of the report. It is available at shorturl.at/aptA2 . The notice, which explains how to make public comment is attached here.FONSI-and-RROF(1) (1) (1).docThe CPF application was prepared and written by Kim Martin. She started from scratch, navigated the bureaucratic labyrinths, and got the job done in record time, and succesfully nagged me to do my part. I am enormously grateful to her for her diligent work.
While Kim was doing that, I have been meeting with architects and engineers to develop plans for the renovation. Our overall goal has been to make Town Hall a more functional building while preserving its architectural integrity. The priorites are: addressing structural problems, updating mechanical and electrical systems, increasing accessibility to people with disabilities, and providing spaces for public meetings and private offices. We have developed a number of alternate approaches, and I am currently awaitin gestimates of cost.
In the meantime, I I have been pursuing additional sources of funding. We have applied for and received a $50,000 grant from the State HIstoric Preservation Office (SHPO) for planning. We are preparing to apply for an additional $200,000 from SHPO's Historic Restoration Fund. We have applied for $700,000 from the Department of Economic Development, which has designated Scotland one of 58 Connecticut towns eligible for the Community INvestment Fund. We have designated approximately $350,000 of our American Rescue Plan award and approximately $100,000 in capital funds already set aside for the project.
With the CPF grant, that adds up to $2.1 million in potential funding, which is the rough estimate of what the entire project would cost. Since there is currently no guarantee that we will have all those funds, our architects are developing plans that are less comprehensive (and expensive), but still address our basic needs. By the end of January, I hope to have conceptual plans and estimates of cost for all three alternatives,. As soon as those are in hand, we will hold a public information session to present the possibilities. And as soon as we know how much money we will have, we will be able to decide on a plan. If all goes well, we will be able to out to bid later in the year.
I will keep you posted as the project develops. In the meantime, feel free to comment or question on the Public Notice, or directly to me at firstslectman@scotlandct.org
