STONE HARBOR – Stone Harbor Council passed a resolution, July 3, to withdraw its application for a $1.8 million county Open Space grant that was set to expire in days.
The grant, won as part of the planned effort to revitalize the borough’s marina at 80th Street, was originally awarded in 2021, but the project it was to support was never initiated. The grant was set to expire July 12.
In May, the council approved a plan to seek an extension of the funding. The grant, according to borough engineer Marc DeBlasio, has two possible one-year extensions, which the county can grant.
Recreation Committee Chair Victor Foschini brought the issue to council at the May meeting, arguing that it would be “catastrophic” for the borough’s future grant efforts if such a large grant were allowed to expire due to municipal inaction two years after the award was made.
Just two months later, July 3, DeBlasio had a new option for council to consider. According to DeBlasio, meetings with the county as part of the effort to seek an extension of the funding resulted in the county suggesting that the borough withdraw its original application from 2021.
DeBlasio said he believed the county would maintain the borough in “good standing” and allow a new application, which would have the advantage of being in 2023 dollars.
“We might even get more,” DeBlasio said.
It is unusual for a granting agency to be favorably disposed to an entity that failed to use funding over a two-year period. DeBlasio explained that the county looks at the project at the marina as part of a “blue route” for boaters and kayakers. The county, he said, considers itself a partner in the project rather than just a distant granting agency.
With the grant set to expire in less than two weeks, council voted to withdraw its earlier application.
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