Village of Homer Moves Into Next Step For Three Municipal DRI Projects

During Tuesday evenings Village of Homer Board of Trustees meeting, the Trustees voted unanimously to authorize Mayor Clune to enter into three Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) projects state contracts. Those three projects are the Homer Community Fairgrounds at $1.42 million, Downtown Marketing & Signage Program, and the Water Street Bridge, both in the amount of $300,000.

This is the next step towards each of the three project proposals coming to fruition. Mayor Clune said this approval will begin the “bureaucratic” process with the State of New York. He added that he is happy with how these three projects are presented to send to the state for review. In addition to all three contracts being signed by the mayor, the Village Clerk has also started work on Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for the projects. Mayor Clune noted the village will be doing concurrent actions so any RFPs come back at the same time the contracts he signed for the state also return.

X101 News inquired if the renderings for the Homer Community Fairgrounds and the original plan would remain the same. When the state previously announced the list of projects awarded funding for the DRI last May, renderings showed the basketball courts turned by 90 degrees and more shrubbery added. Mayor Clune told X101 News that with the RFP the village will receive another design for the Community Fairgrounds, but said it is an ongoing work in process to better use the funds. The Community Fairgrounds is located in front of the Community Building at George Vernum Park.