City of Green Cove Springs issued the following announcement on July 12.
Governor Ron DeSantis announced Green Cove Springs’ grant award of $700,000 as a part of the total $29 million given to 42 communities through the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program during a press conference held Monday morning in Green Cove Springs City Council Chambers.
The $700,000 grant award is split between three projects in the neighborhood revitalization grant category. These projects include Vera Francis Hall Park improvements of adding picnic tables, benches, and a sunshade over the playground, adding 7,700 linear feet of sidewalk along Highland Avenue between Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. and Idlewild Ave. and along Center Street between Oakridge Ave. and Vermont St., and replacing a half-mile of 50-year-old corrugated metal stormwater pipes, roadway, curb and gutter, and sidewalk on West Street from Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. to Bonaventure Ave.
Both Vera Francis Hall Park Improvements and Highland Avenue sidewalk project are fully funded by CDBG funding with a grant award of $72,000 for park improvements and $295,000 for new sidewalk. West Street stormwater replacement was awarded $333,000, which partially funds the project’s total cost of $1,133,000. The remaining $800,000 will be funded by the City’s stormwater utility user fee.
“Highland Avenue sidewalk project and Vera Francis Hall Park improvements were identified as a need in community meetings,” Planning and Zoning Director Michael Daniels said. “With the help of CDBG funding the City will be able to address those needs.”
Development Services Department, led by Planning and Zoning Director Michael Daniels, applied for the grant program in November 2020 after a two-month process of public hearings and community hearings to determine where the possible grant funding can be applied in the Green Cove Springs community. The City is eligible to apply for up to $700,000 in the neighborhood revitalization, commercial revitalization, and housing rehabilitation grant categories.
All three projects are slated to begin in October 2021. Vera Francis Hall Park improvements and Highland Avenue sidewalk project are estimated to take three months to complete. West Street stormwater replacement is estimated to take between six to eight months to complete.
For any questions or interview requests contact Public Information Officer Tiffanie Kelly at 904-297-7046 or tkelly@greencovesprings.com
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