Date: 03/19/04

The Waitsburg Community Revitalization Committee’s (WCRC) Downtown Streetscape Plan got a big boost from Port of Walla Walla last week, a $100,000 commitment toward its planned $600,000 project to dress up the downtown business district with benches, light standards, decorative pavers, signage, tree grates, bump-outs, public art and other improvements.

“This is exactly what we need in order to go out and get the matching funds to build our account in order to cover the costs of this project,” said Ross Hamann, chairman of the WCRC, an ad hoc committee of the Waitsburg City Council. “Without this we would just be spinning our wheels. We have got real traction now.”

Port Commissioners approved half of the $200,000 requested by the WCRC, said Executive Director Jim Kuntz, believing the amount is “a good start that will allow the committee secure additional funding.” Commissioners consider a number of grant requests, Kuntz said, and awarded the grant at the $100,000 level because the $200,000 requested was a high percentage of the project’s $600,000 total.

“We’re hopeful the Port’s $100,000 up-front grant will be able to help secure other state and federal funding that the City will be applying for,” Kuntz said. “The Port recognizes the importance for this project to proceed, and in the event, after fund-raising efforts are completed, the project is still short some dollars, we would consider a second application.”

The WCRC will apply for other state and federal grants to leverage the Port’s contribution into additional grants, Hamann said. Potential funding sources include state agencies, U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Economic Development Administration.

The Port money is from the Economic Development Sales Tax Account that counties are able to keep for economic development. The Port, as the county’s lead economic development agency, manages two-thirds of the amount distributed to the county, and the county receives the other one-third, Kuntz said.

The WCRC will report to the Port Commission by December, 2005, on its fundraising efforts. The funding is only released if other grant funding is obtained to meet the project’s goals.

The WCRC hired a consultant, T.C. Sherry and Associates, Spokane, to conduct a study of Waitsburg’s downtown area and formulate a streetscape plan. That contract was let a year ago and paid Sherry $25,000 to develop the plan. Funding for the plan came from the Port, City of Waitsburg and the Washington Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development. Public meetings were held in the summer of 2003, and the final plan was presented to the City Council in July, 2003.