By Amanda Estes

Staff Writer

    This fiscal year, the city of South Portland will
apply for $500,857 in funding from Cumberland County’s Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) to be used for housing, public service,
and public improvement projects throughout the city. Although it is the
city’s fourth year of receiving funds from the CDBG program, as of July
1, the city will no longer be considered an entitlement community by
the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and will instead
be a “set-a-side allocation” in the county’s CDBG funds. The funds
directed to South Portland will be based on 23 percent of the funding
the city of Portland receives each year.

    Earlier this year, the Community Development
Advisory Committee (CDAC) generated an Annual Action Plan to outline
how the CDBG funds would be spent. The budget, excluding administration
programs, is $419,697.  Within that budget, $328,518 will fund
projects in “target areas,” which include the Pleasantdale and Ferry
Village neighborhoods and Memorial Middle School.

    At Monday’s council meeting, Assistant City Manager
and Director of Community Development Jim Gailey, said the CDAC was
proposing to fund all projects that were received in application form
by the city’s Community Development Office. The office received fewer
applications than in previous years.

    Gailey said although Cumberland County received just
over $1.4 million as opposed to the $2 million they had anticipated,
South Portland actually benefits from joining the county’s program. He
said the city would receive a $45,000 boost in funding from the
transition.  

     The council voted unanimously to allow City
Manager Ted Jankowski to submit the city’s action plan to Cumberland
County’s Community Development program. County officials then have
until May 15 to submit South Portland’s plan and their own plan to HUD.

    Gailey said this year’s plan reflects a smaller
budget for public service projects such as recreation scholarships and
the English as a Second Language program. The CDAC is recommending
$36,000 this year as opposed to last year’s budget of $43,250. 

    In comparison, Gailey said the budget for public
improvement projects is larger than previous years. The CDAC is
recommending $329, 342, up from $171,000 in 2006, be directed to
renovate and improve spaces throughout the city.

    The sidewalk rehabilitation project for the
Pleasantdale neighborhood has been allocated $70,000 under the CDAC’s
plan. Gailey said the sidewalks are rough and heaving in spots due to
root growth from trees along the streets.

    The Ferry Village Neighborhood is also poised to
receive $70,000 for sidewalk rehabilitation and $15,000 for
improvements to the Sawyer/High Street park. Gailey said one condition
in renovating the park calls for a basketball hoop that is a popular
attraction for teenagers to remain in the park.

    “If there’s any population that is underserved in
South Portland, it’s the teenagers,” said Councilor Maxine Beecher,
expressing her approval of the distribution of funds.

    Other major improvement projects slated to receive
CDBG funds include improvements to the Clarks Pond trail, such as the
addition of stairs, erosion barriers, and footbridges. The $80,000
allocated for the project will be aimed at improving access to the
trail. Phase 1 of the Waterman Drive renovation project is also posed
to receive $80,000, which will be a boost to the $100,000 that the city
currently has earmarked for the project. Gailey said phase 1 of the
project, which calls for improvements to the water side of Waterman
Drive, will take the area out of the “arterial road feel” by narrowing
the road and give it a “boulevard feel” by widening green spaces. If
all goes as planned, Gailey said phase 1 will go out to bid this summer
and he would hope the construction would take place over the late
summer/early fall months. The CDAC also recommended that the tennis
courts at Memorial Middle School be transformed into a basketball court
and roller-hockey court with the proposed $55,000 in funds. Finally,
the public improvement budget also calls for $9,176 to fund the
planting of 30 trees along roads and in parks throughout the city.

    Under the housing category, the CDAC is recommending
$54,355 for homebuyer assistance, heating assistance, and housing
rehabilitation programs.