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ReturnIndia:Easton seeks $477,000 from Northampton County for work at silk mill
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admin
PublishDate：
2008-12-26 16:21:00
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The city redevelopment authority hopes to tap into almost $500,000 of federal environmental cleanup money as it labors to make the sprawling silk mill site attractive to developers.
The Environmental Protection Agency awarded Northampton County about $500,000 in 2003 that was intended as a revolving loan fund for environmental cleanups within the county. The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. administers the program.
Private developers have shied away from the program because of the various conditions and that they must pay prevailing wage, according to Holly Edinger said, LVEDC's land recycling coordinator.
The program allows the county to use some of the money as a grant to a municipality. The money must be spent or the county must at least draw down funds from the EPA by Sept. 30.
"It's kind of a good fit with a municipality," Edinger said.
Gretchen Lippincott, Easton's economic development director, said the parties are finalizing details on dividing about $477,000 into a grant and a zero percent loan to the Easton redevelopment authority. The loan will either be repaid in installments or in a single lump sum once the authority sells the property.
The authority received a $200,000 EPA cleanup grant earlier this year and has received about $150,000 from the LVEDC land recycling program for environmental assessments since purchasing the 14-acre property.
The authority used the $150,000 for soil and groundwater testing, and asbestos and lead paint surveys at the former industrial site of North 13th Street, according to Edinger. She and Lippincott said a cleanup plan is being drafted and could go out to bid in February, with work beginning in the spring.
The silk mill project has moved slowly since the authority purchased the first property in 2004. It has been nearly two years since the authority rejected the only two proposals it received from potential development teams.
"There's been a lot of work going on behind the scenes," Lippincott said.
The authority is finalizing a contract with a firm that will provide a detailed structural analysis of all buildings, survey the existing utilities and draft a preliminary master plan to accompany a market study that envisions turning the silk mill into an arts-based community.
The finished product will include renderings that show potential developers how the property could be used, Lippincott said.
"Once the feasibility plan is done we should be able to determine which uses in the ArtsMarket study would be suitable for which buildings," she said.
In the interim, the authority has been removing garbage from the property and maintaining buildings.
Rockwood Pigments is on a month-to-month lease with the authority to rent about 20,000 square feet of storage space at $2 a square foot.
Reporter Edward Sieger can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at esieger@express-times.com.
Source:Industry Website
The Environmental Protection Agency awarded Northampton County about $500,000 in 2003 that was intended as a revolving loan fund for environmental cleanups within the county. The Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. administers the program.
Private developers have shied away from the program because of the various conditions and that they must pay prevailing wage, according to Holly Edinger said, LVEDC's land recycling coordinator.
The program allows the county to use some of the money as a grant to a municipality. The money must be spent or the county must at least draw down funds from the EPA by Sept. 30.
"It's kind of a good fit with a municipality," Edinger said.
Gretchen Lippincott, Easton's economic development director, said the parties are finalizing details on dividing about $477,000 into a grant and a zero percent loan to the Easton redevelopment authority. The loan will either be repaid in installments or in a single lump sum once the authority sells the property.
The authority received a $200,000 EPA cleanup grant earlier this year and has received about $150,000 from the LVEDC land recycling program for environmental assessments since purchasing the 14-acre property.
The authority used the $150,000 for soil and groundwater testing, and asbestos and lead paint surveys at the former industrial site of North 13th Street, according to Edinger. She and Lippincott said a cleanup plan is being drafted and could go out to bid in February, with work beginning in the spring.
The silk mill project has moved slowly since the authority purchased the first property in 2004. It has been nearly two years since the authority rejected the only two proposals it received from potential development teams.
"There's been a lot of work going on behind the scenes," Lippincott said.
The authority is finalizing a contract with a firm that will provide a detailed structural analysis of all buildings, survey the existing utilities and draft a preliminary master plan to accompany a market study that envisions turning the silk mill into an arts-based community.
The finished product will include renderings that show potential developers how the property could be used, Lippincott said.
"Once the feasibility plan is done we should be able to determine which uses in the ArtsMarket study would be suitable for which buildings," she said.
In the interim, the authority has been removing garbage from the property and maintaining buildings.
Rockwood Pigments is on a month-to-month lease with the authority to rent about 20,000 square feet of storage space at $2 a square foot.
Reporter Edward Sieger can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at esieger@express-times.com.
Source:Industry Website
