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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Town of Newburgh Animal Shelter finds new home
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
The Town of Newburgh Animal Control
and Shelter will soon move into a donated
building on Hudson Valley Professional
Plaza. The building is seven times larger than the current shelter on Gidney
Avenue.
“It’s an outstanding donation, one of
the largest the town has received,” said
Town Supervisor Gil Piaquadio.
The
6,722-square-foot,
two-story
building is located at 21 Hudson Valley
Professional Plaza. The building was
donated by Dr. Victor Rendano, who
owned and operated a veterinary hospital
there.
“We’ll name the building after Victor T.
Rendano Sr.,” said Piaquadio, in honor of
Rendano’s father, a war veteran.
According to the Orange County
Department of Real Property, the 2015
full-market value of the 1.4-acre property
was $491,800.
The town will purchase furniture, fixtures, appliances and veterinary equipment inside the building for $100,000.
Workers are installing Internet at the
building this week, Piaquadio said.
“This new facility is monumental for
the town’s Animal Control,” said town
The Town of Newburgh’s animal shelter will move to 21 Hudson Valley Professional Plaza.
Councilman Paul Ruggiero in a press
release earlier this month.
The animal shelter is anticipated to be
opened sometime this spring. A ceremo-
nial dedication will take place at the new
facility in March.
City of Newburgh holds public hearing on CDBG budget
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
Supporting small businesses, preventing blight, creating affordable housing and access to parks and locally-grown foods. City officials say these are a few of the
goals of the City of Newburgh’s CDBG plan for 2016.
City Director of Planning and Development Deirdre
Glenn provided an overview of the city’s refocused
Community Development Block Grant plan at a public
hearing held at Newburgh City Hall this month.
The plan calls for $861,734 in federal funding for 2016.
Anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 in additional funding
may be used for small business loans, Glenn said.
Community Development Block Grants are administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) and allocated to local and state governments.
Entitlement Communities like the City of Newburgh
are required to prepare and submit a consolidated plan,
which sets goals for the use of the funding, Glenn
explained.
Specific goals include supporting housing development
“without displacement” and quality out-of-school youth
programs.
The Downing Park Greenhouse Project will offer summer youth employment at a new greenhouse and gardens
at Downing Park. The project is designed to encourage
urban farming and improve access to local foods for
children and families. As part of the greenhouse project,
a food fair will be held at the park in April, Glenn said.
The existing, five-year CDBG plan has been reworked
to help homeowners repair buildings with health and
safety violations and improve community outreach to
make the public more aware of CDBG programs like the
homeowner emergency-repair program.
“A lot of people don’t know we have money for emergency home repairs,” said Glenn. “If you have a leaking
water line and you’re hit with a 15-day notice from the
city, there are funds available to help with the cost to
repair that line.”
Depending on household income, residents could qualify for a low-interest loan or a grant of up to $25,000 for
emergency repairs.
Another CDBG-funded program provides loans of
up to $10,000 for small businesses. Yet another provides
funding for the improvement of building facades located
downtown and along Broadway.
The city’s long-awaited skateboard park is expected to
be complete by early summer, said Glenn, using $600,000
in leftover CDBG funds.
Another park, dubbed the “People’s Waterfront” and
located at the former Consolidated Iron site on the
Hudson River, is set to open sometime in the spring. “The
public will be able to walk and picnic and do whatever
they want on Saturdays,” said Glenn.
CDBG funds will also pay to build basketball courts at
Delano Hitch Park. “At least 70 percent (of funds) must
be used to benefit low and moderate-income people,”
explained Gle