Panama discusses potential Ralph C Wilson Jr. grant
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PANAMA -- Panama officials are considering asking the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation for outdoor recreation funding.
Kyle Rhoades, Panama Village Board member, recently attended an information session for areas interested in applying for a grant from the foundation for areas involved in outdoor recreation. Panama officials discussed the grants during their most recent meeting to see if there is anything they could make use of them with. Funding is specifically for things such as trails, bike paths, walking safety and other potential uses like sidewalks, walking paths and parks. The foundation is trying to promote outdoor health, with funds reaching a max of $50,000 a year, Rhoades said. Applicants have to prove ownership of the area they would like to use them for, and the funds can also be used for capital projects.
"The application is only open for one month though," Rhoades said. "It opened yesterday and closes on the 30th, so you have to get property control and a project concept and conceptual budget pretty quickly."
Rhoades also met a Chautauqua County Partnership For Economic Growth official during the information session, who offered to meet with the village and talk with any other ideas or grants for the village besides this one. The organization's grants start in January and they have multiple grants a year, working under the county IDA.
"The IDA is trying to help municipalities like us do some revitalizing downtowns, parks, trails, all kinds of things," Rhoades said.
He said if the village wants to invite the man to a future meeting he now has contact information for him. Mayor William Schneider also noted the push for the New York State Consolidated Funding application for similar projects, adding he is in the process of getting that going for the village as well. These funds would be for village revitalization, Schneider said, with the plan to leave it broad so it could cover multiple different revitalization areas such as downtown or sidewalks. Potentially for this or the Ralph C Wilson Jr Funds, Schneider wondered if there would be the possibility to tie in sidewalk repair to create a type of walking course in the village using the sidewalks. A walking course could then include sidewalk repair and signs.
"If we could somehow package the idea of a safe place to walk and get some distance markers, we own the parking lot back here and we could develop that area a little bit better with a big sign, call it 'Walk Panama' and it could tell people if you walk this route this is how long it is, or this route is this distance," Schneider said. "So that might be worth a shot."
The CCPEG official is also working on downtown revitalization with Sherman, and Schneider asked Rhoades to call him and ask to have him come to a meeting before the January deadline to look into a downtown revitalization project. There is also the potential to set up a meeting to have the representative walk through the village, and Schneider said they should ask what his normal process is for a project similar to Sherman, to accommodate him.