The city of Statesboro recently applied through the offices of Georgia’s two U.S. senators for congressionally directed funding totaling more than $7.6 million for two different local projects, namely the Creek on the Blue Mile plan and the Statesboro Village Builders initiative.

Proposed initially by members of the local business community, promised some state funding in 2018 and adopted by the city in 2019, the Creek on the Blue Mile is a flood control, economic development and recreation plan for the Little Lotts Creek drainage area near downtown. The projected cost of the public infrastructure portion, after cost-cutting revisions, remains around $30 million.

Meanwhile, the Village Builders initiative is not – as someone might think from the name – a construction program but is instead the city government’s most ambitious youth program yet.

Statesboro City Council authorized both applications by separate motions and unanimous votes during the March 7 regular meeting. Also during that meeting, the council authorized a Community Development Block Grant application, seeking $1.25 million, which would be federal money administered by the state, for housing, park and roadway improvements targeted to the Whitesville community.

Creek on Blue Mile

The Creek on the Blue Mile funding request, which was due by March 7, was submitted only to Sen. Jon Ossoff. It is a reapplication for Congressionally Directed Spending Program support for the project. An application submitted by Statesboro city staff one year ago, in March 2022, sought $6 million but did not result in any funding.

“One of the concerns that were provided by the Senator’s Office was the need to demonstrate broader support for the project and to better demonstrate how the funding will fit into one of the funding categories that correlate best with the Creek on the Blue Mile project,” Assistant City Manager Jason Boyles stated in a Feb. 28 memo.

Boyles’ memo, initially addressed to City Manager Charles W. Penny, was provided to the mayor and council members in advance of their March 7 meeting, the same day as the deadline.

Since the application a year ago, “the engineering phase of work has progressed to a point that will provide a clearer correlation to the available funding sources, and staff has been working to obtain documentation to demonstrate a broader perspective of support and impact for the project,” Boyles had stated in the memo.

$24.4 million?

In response to an emailed question Monday, City Clerk Leah Harden reported that the amount of the initial 2023 application as submitted was $24,408,107. But this was based on an estimate of the total public infrastructure cost, submitted to meet the deadline, and will be revised downward, Penny said.

“It would be nice to get the full amount covered for the project, but probably not realistic,” he wrote in an email. “We have met the deadline for submission and believe we have the opportunity to amend the request.”

Noting that the 2022 request to Ossoff was for $6 million, Penny said, “We will amend to reflect that amount or a little increase considering the cost of the construction has certainly increased.”

The resolution approved by council stated that the city staff would “prepare application to provide federal funding support for an amount to be determined necessary by the Senate Appropriations Committee to provide the balance remaining to fully fund the project.”

Existing funding sources from the state, approved since early 2019, include $5.5 million in direct state spending and a $15.5 million line of credit, both through the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. Although carrying a low interest rate, the GEFA loan would have to be repaid, so the city is looking for more grants to reduce use of credit as much as possible.

Village Builders

For the Village Builders youth initiative, the amounts Statesboro has applied for are $1.2 million through Sen. Raphael Warnock’s office and $402,500 through Ossoff’s office, Harden indicated Monday. So, the combined maximum would be $1,602,500.

Warnock’s deadline for applications was March 10.

After discussing ideas for the youth initiative during a March 2022 planning retreat, the council and mayor approved $120,000 in city taxpayer funding for the program in the fiscal year 2023 budget in effect since last July 1.

Then the city government hired Dr. LaSara Mitchell, effective last Nov. 28, as youth program coordinator.

She has been working with the city’s Youth Commission, created in 2018, to plan for Village Builders. The commission’s volunteers had already held a few outreach events in the name of the initiative, which will provide mentoring and support services to children in targeted neighborhoods, or “villages.” The city just last month authorized a new Youth Council, for input from youth.

When City Council took up the federal funding request during last week’s meeting, District 1 Councilman Phil Boyum questioned the city’s role in operating such a program. Boyum and Mayor McCollar have disagreed on this point for several years. In the past, Boyum expressed support for the city helping to fund one or more existing nonprofit organizations providing youth programs, such as the Boys & Girls Club of Bulloch County, through city service contracts.

“Mayor, I would say this, we need to have a discussion at some point whether or not the city is appropriate to be delivering educational programming,” Boyum said.

“This is not educational programming,” McCollar said. “This is a mentoring program, and cities across the nation deliver mentoring services.”

They continued to disagree on the general subject. However, Boyum did not vote against applying for the funding, and Harden counted his as a “yes” vote, with four council members present and the resolution passing 4-0.