Perhaps we’re cynical but it has often seemed that smaller communities in our state have been left out of a lot of major state funding initiatives. But now, something has rained down from Albany that is specifically aimed at smaller municipalities, even villages. We’re talking here about the $100 million that Governor Kathy Hochul earmarked in her $220.5 billion budget for the New York Forward grant competition.

Of course, that’s not exactly fair; there were already a number of funding streams that (occasionally) showered smaller rural places with state money. For example, the Town of Wawarsing, via the amazing work of grant writer/surveyor Mark Blauer, has pulled down about $10 million in grants to upgrade water and sewer districts in Napanoch and Kerhonkson.

But this time this stream of funding was specifically designed for smaller towns and villages after it had been noticed that the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) grants have tended to go almost exclusively to large municipalities, like Kingston. Those grants seek coherent downtown areas in need of investment and a lift, which are more likely to be found in larger towns.

This year the state’s 10 Regional Economic Development councils, will have $100 million in DRI money, in addition to this new $100 million in New York Forward (NYF) money.

While a couple hundred million might seem like a rounding error in terms of a budget of more than $220 billion, a DRI grant of $10 million can make an enormous change to the prospects of a small, upstate city. Kingston won one in 2017. A NYF grant of $4.5 million to a village in fiscal distress, like Ellenville, would allow the village manager to sleep at night, and be invaluable in terms of things like providing HVAC to the Hunt Memorial Building.

But there’s another angle to this that must be mentioned. And thank you Mr. Rogers! That’s Tim Rogers, the mayor of the village of New Paltz. He contacted the village of Ellenville to suggest a joint “barbell” application for a shared DRI $10 million grant. This kind of cooperation between small municipalities brings smiles to the faces of those who hand out the golden purses. Cooperation and sharing services are highly important concepts at that level.

And out of that contact came the current set of applications, separate New York Forward grant applications from each village, and then a third application from the two together for a shared DRI grant to be split between Ellenville and New Paltz. Going in with them in support, providing the “bar” part of the barbell, is the Open Space Institute, which has labored mightily for decades now to build connections to Minnewaska State Park, Sam’s Point Preserve, and the string of smaller parks that continue south down the ridge to the Port Jervis area. OSI developed a map showing how Ellenville and New Paltz can connect for hikers and bikers right up and over the Ridge, through Minnewaska and the Mohonk Preserve, with a village on either end.

Another aspect of this process is that the granting committees look to see if private investment is going into the downtown area that the state money would benefit. Ellenville for years had zilch to show on that score, but things have changed mightily in recent years. With projects and investments up and down Market Street, and now interest in the grand Norbury Hall, things are really looking up in downtown Ellenville. That may work to the barbell application’s benefit.

What the state wants from this spending are active downtowns, with shopping and restaurants. Ellenville already has a successful theater, the Shadowland, and a “public space” is becoming a thing on the empty lot at the corner of Market and Center where the Market on Market takes place in the summer and early fall seasons.

Mayor Rogers has been listening to the winners in the previous six rounds of the DRI grant. He said at a joint meeting with Ellenville that he was looking for cool synergies with SUNY New Paltz. Not to be outdone, Ellenville Village Manager Michael Warren has mentioned synergies with SUNY Ulster.

From opioid harm reduction to training programs to produce workers for Cresco Labs’ new facility, the uses for $5 million are numerous. Of course, winning the grant is just the beginning. A special master has to be appointed to manage things and two or more committees have to review the ideas put forward by the winners. But as everyone knows, to win it you have to be in it, and this year Ellenville really is. Finally, the state is paying attention to the needs of the little villages and municipalities that pocket its rural areas.