For a business owner just starting out, creating a sign can sometimes be expensive. At Monday’s Common Council Committee of the Whole meeting, members discussed a project that could help owners with some of those expenses.
Director of Planning Carol Samol told the council it had previously approved a Request for Proposals process for the remaining $97,000 of Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) funds to have a specific focus on signage. Utilizing the funds for signage became possible after another DRI project fell through in October, Samol told the Herald.
Samol said City Planner Peter Erwin observed how signage could be expensive for owners in the Historic District and elsewhere, particularly for those businesses just starting up. She noted that signs can range from about $3,000 to $6,000.
“Sometimes they’ll go for a cheaper option that doesn’t quite fit in with the aesthetic of the area,” Samol said. “It’s a high expense for property owners and business owners. And signage also has a really important impact on the visual continuity and welcomingness of an area.”
The department proposes giving special support for signage applications. Approved applications would receive a 90 percent subsidy from the state for the cost of signs, with a 10 percent match from the business owner.
This idea to use the money on signage was approved by the state, according to Samol. The city would still have to have a focus on the DRI area and advertise for all kinds of the application types whether facade types or other options in the DRI fund.
She proposed creating a short list of sign designers and manufacturers to help expedite the process. The planning department is also working with the state to streamline some of the environmental review requirements under the State Historic Preservation Office.
Applications to receive monetary support for business signs would be due around the end of January. Samol said a criterion that focuses on signage will be included in the application review process. Those businesses located in the Historic District still have to obtain approval from the Historic Board.
Councilwoman Kathleen Talbot raised a concern about the high turnover rate for small businesses. Samol said business owners are required to have the signage materials around for a certain period of time or they have to refund the DRI money, even if they go out of business. However, she said she needed to confirm that with the state.
Another issue was raised by Mayor Vivian McKenzie who spoke about people who already have spent money on signs.
“We have new businesses that have put up signs and have gone through all of this turmoil and paid all this money,” McKenzie said. “And now we’re going to give other businesses the opportunity to get signs at a decreased cost. That kind of would rub me the wrong way.”
Samol noted it is the same way for facade treatment. “There will be some businesses that will go forward and they were probably eligible [for DRI money], but they went forward anyway.”
On the topic of signs, McKenzie brought up the proposed wayfinding signage designs coming to Peekskill this winter, also funded by the DRI, which received pushback from a couple people on the council and outside of the council, she said.
Last week, Sepp Spenlinhauer, a member of the committee that reviewed the wayfinding signage proposals and husband of Councilman Brian Fassett, critiqued there not being a full scale mockup or the right print out of colors on the presentation, he said.
“Is there any way to get some kind of mockup?” McKenzie asked. “Because I was one of the people who voted for the colors that [Erwin] presented. And it was brought to our attention that the group of people who picked that bright green color said that color is very different if you saw it in person.”
Samol noted the colors would not be truly representative if printed outside of the fabrication plant.
She told the Herald on Wednesday that they have asked the contractor to provide them with a scaled rendering in Photoshop to show exactly what the wayfinding signage would look like, on the corner of Division St. and Main St., for example.
City awarded $50,000 anti-violence and workforce development program grant
The New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services has awarded the City of Peekskill a $50,000 grant award for an anti-violence and workforce development program, including mentoring for youth at risk in Peekskill.
The grant was secured by State Sen. Pete Harckham and allocated funds will cover personnel and supply costs associated with the programming. All that remains is for the Common Council to accept the grant.
At Monday’s meeting, Nutrition Site Manager and Community Hub Director Jonathan Zamora requested the council to do exactly that.
Zamora said in the past they used the same grant money for a pilot program for the community kitchen, a program with the Youth Bureau that offers entrepreneurial boot camp services, and a mobile app development program. By using the funding, they could pay for youth to participate in several programs at no cost to the city, he said.
City Manager Matt Alexander said the securing of the grant was in part due to Zamora.
“One of the reasons that we got the grant was because of two successful runs with the program that the senator attended,” Alexander said.
Zamora added that People Ready, a White Plains based temporary workforce agency, reached out to them after having seen the success of the culinary kitchen program and wanted to partner with the city to offer temporary jobs that often lead to employment across the county. Details regarding collaborations are not yet finalized.
Other agenda items discussed included a street closure for Peekskill Middle School graduation which will be held at Paramount Theatre next June, a request to use Railroad Avenue for the third annual “Holiyay Market,” and several more street closures for upcoming religious processions. They also discussed a renewal request from the Center for Economic and Environmental Partnership, Inc.
Deputy Mayor Patricia Riley announced the annual military tribute banner program is now accepting new orders until March 29. New banners cost $187, while already purchased banners cost $15 to be rehung.
