ITEM TITLE:
Approve Award of 2017 Downtown Beautification Matching Grants in the Amount of $44,257.46
SUBMITTED BY: Todd Wegner, Assistant City Manager, Task Force Staff Advisor
FISCAL NOTES:
Expenditure Required: $44,257.46
Unencumbered Balance: $89,379.74
Funding Source: 350-5550-55000
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve Beautification Task Force recommendation to award 2017 Downtown Beautification grants in the amount of $44,257.46.
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
The deadline for application submission was March 15, 2017, with selection of grant awardees made by the Task Force at the regular meeting on March 28, 2017.
Thirteen project applications were submitted prior to the official deadline. Below are the 2017 Grant Recipients and their Maximum Grant Fund Award:
Organization Maximum Grant Fund Award
Valdez Food Cache, LLC $10,000
R&R Testing Services, Inc. $10,000
Bell Tech, Inc. $10,000
Stepping Stones $ 1,000
Totem Inn & Suites $ 5,000
Paul Silveria DMD 257
Downtown B&B $ 2,000
First National Bank of Alaska $ 2,000
NAPA $ 4,000
The Beautification Matching Grant Program began the year with a budget of $46,751 (Acct. 350-5550-55000). The task force approved up to $1,000 to be spent on advertising for the grant program, however only $711.98 was utilized. The balance remaining and available to use for grant awards was $46,039.02. The Beautification Task Force has awarded $44,257.46 which leaves a remainder of $2,493.54 in the account.
There were many worthwhile organizations vying for a limited amount of grant dollars. Three applications were denied because the organization didn’t meet the grant criteria or had received monies previously.