Are Corbin Main Street grants really in jeopardy?

In the wake of a contentious Corbin City Commission meeting last Monday that focused on a plan to make the city’s Main Street Manager a part-time position, questions still linger about whether some current and future grant funds could be lost because of the move.

This week, Corbin City Manager Bill Ed Cannon reiterated, despite some arguments to the contrary, that he did not believe the city was in any danger of losing the ability to gain grant funds, or of having any grant funding revoked. City leaders voted to cut Main Street Manager Sharae Myers back to just 20 hours per week as a cost-saving measure, citing a decrease in revenue in the current fiscal year.

"I don’t see where we don’t qualify for any grants if we meet the guidelines," Cannon said. "I don’t know what some of those people were talking about at the meeting. I don’t think we will lose anything."

About 40 citizens attended last Monday’s meeting of the Board of Commissioners, many to voice their opposition of the plan. One of their principal arguments was that Corbin would likely lose out on future grant funds.

According to the most recent guidelines for the Renaissance on Main/Kentucky Main Street Program, administered by the Kentucky Heritage Council, cities with a population of between 5,000 and 10,000 citizens are only required to have a Main Street Manager that works 20 hours per week to qualify for grant funding through that program.

Charlene Blair, a member of the Corbin Main Street Design Committee, claimed that the city would likely lose out on grants already awarded to Corbin in May to construct a downtown park in honor of KFC Founder Harland Sanders, to paint the Corbin Depot, which houses the Corbin Economic Development Agency, and to paint a mural on a nearby building owned by CSX. The city was awarded $20,000 in what are called CITY funds (Community Initiatives in Tourism for You) for the Sander’s project, and $4,000 from another program called "Paint the Town" for the painting. The city has one year to spend those funds.

Both grants came through a non-profit organization called Tour SEKY – a federally funded initiative focused on expanding a promoting tourism in southern and eastern Kentucky. It is not affiliated with the Heritage Council’s Main Street program.
Nonetheless, Corbin Tourism and Convention Commission Chairperson Suzie Razmus claimed the city could be frozen out from future grant funds from Tour SEKY if the Main Street Program was cutback.

"The grants we get through Tour SEKY are for a full-time Main Street Manager. I understand that there are other grants we can get at part time, but actually the Tour SEKY does require a full-time manager."

Razmus clarified in an interview after the meeting that she is not certain what the requirements actually are to receive the grants, but was simply being supportive of Myers because of the help she’s provided to the Tourism Commission.

"She does a lot of the grunt work because we don’t have a tourism director right now," Razmus said. "I think those are awesome projects and I think it would be truly a shame if she doesn’t have time to do those grants."

Whether Corbin will be stripped of grants or have its ability to receive grants hampered is debatable. In fact, Tour SEKY appears to have no criteria at all that requires a city even have a certified Main Street program, much less a full-time manager. In May, at the same time Corbin was awarded $24,000 for its projects, the city of Liberty was given the biggest award this year; $30,000 for downtown improvements. Both came from the same grant programs through which Corbin was awarded.

Blaine Staat, who serves as the town’s acting Economic Development Director, Chamber Director and Tourism Director, said Liberty’s Main Street program was suspended in 2009 because the city lacked the money and resources to continue it.

"When it came time to put in the paperwork for certification, there was just no way we were going to be able to make the requirements without lying our heads off and we didn’t want to do that," Staat said. "We just took a step back and tried to regroup. I love the program and support it, but it takes a little more commitment than we have available at the moment.
Still, the city found grant funding success.

Tour SEKY Director of Programs Michelle Allen said its not so important that a city applying for grants have a full-time program, but rather someone in place who is equipped to handle grant funds properly when they are awarded.

Allen said Monday that while the organization has not been formally notified of Corbin’s decision to change to a part-time Main Street Manager, the move might meet with disapproval from the Board of Directors that oversees the organization. She said she is concerned that a Main Street Manager working only 20 hours per week would not be singularly focused enough on expenditure of the $24,000 in grant funds to get the job done.

"This is the first time it has happened … If anything changes, we have to get it approved," Allen said. "Actually, we are waiting for Corbin to send us something to say this is going on."

But Allen could not point to any written policies or guidelines within Tour SEKY that would compel another review for a city, like Corbin, already awarded a grant. She said a memorandum of agreement between Tour SEKY and the City of Corbin regarding the grant funds addressed the issue. However, the News Journal obtained the memorandum through an open records request Tuesday and it does not appear there are any such guidelines, though the city is required to show progress on the project through a series of monthly reports to Tour SEKY that must detail expenditure of grant funds.

After reviewing the grant application and memorandum, Allen amended that position and said that any decision regarding Corbin’s grant funds would likely not be based on the number of hours the Main Street Manager works, but rather if the city meets it obligations to provide matching funds to complete the projects. She said the organization prefers, though, that cities have a full-time person employed to administer the grant and to complete the voluminous paperwork involved.

On Tuesday, Myers said she is hoping grant money from Tour SEKY this year can be spent within a year’s time regardless of her employment status.

"I want those projects to happen for this community. Particularly the Sanders project will have an impact long-term," Myers said. "If it means I have to volunteer time to make sure it gets finished, I have to find a way … It has to happen in a year. If the project is not complete, the funds are in jeopardy. We’ve got to get busy."

Myers said the city plans to match the grant funds with labor by city workers.

Razmus said there are currently two sites being targeted as possible locations for the Sanders park, but could not say how soon property acquisition could be completed. The grant funds would be used for trashcans, benches and landscaping for the park.

Where only having a part-time Main Street Manager could actually hurt Corbin’s chances for grant funding is through the fact that Tour SEKY gives weight to city’s who send representatives to participate in its programs. Myers has been a major contributor to that effort. She said the reduction in hours would mean she would attend fewer Tour SEKY events. But city leaders contend grant founding would have to outstrip savings by making cuts to the program to be worth the effort.

In 2008, Corbin lost $10,000 in grant funds for a study to determine if an amphitheater to host a seasonal musical about Sanders’ life would be feasible in Corbin. The grant had a six-month window in which it had to be used, and it was not.

"We had to suck it up. It was not fun giving that money back," Myers said. "I learned from that experience."

The city received a second grant to fund the study from the Appalachian Regional Commission and was given a year to use the funds.

Myers contends that there are some federal grants, like "community development grant" that require a full-time manager.

According to the Office for Federal grants, any city or county government is eligible to apply or receive community development block grants regardless of the status of its Main Street Program.