Originally published July 28, 2009 at 8:55 a.m., updated July 28, 2009 at 8:55 a.m.
The St. Joseph City Council approved a resolution to allocate $475,429 in Community Development Block Grant Recovery Funds to five projects in Downtown St. Joseph.
The city must sign contracts on each of the projects within 120 days of receiving money from the federal government. Community Development Manager Gerald McCush said he expects the city to receive the money in mid-August.
Once the contracts are signed, the projects must be completed by 2013, though the city likely will impose stricter guidelines.
Two of the projects also will receive a total of $75,000 in reprogrammed CDBG funding.
The five projects are: Jumbo Fox Inc. ($150,000 CDBG-R, $50,000 CDBG); Generationally Correct Media ($50,000 CDBG-R, $25,000 CDBG); Eschelman Building Renovation ($175,429 CDBG-R); ECBG, LLC ($75,000 CDBG-R); Foster's ($25,000 CDBG-R).
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billybob says...
I would like the paper to disclose who the people are behind these projects, what they are doing with the money and the proposed economic impact of these projects.
July 28, 2009 at 9:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
OfCourseWeCan says...
What is Jumbo Fox?
July 28, 2009 at 9:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
localgirl says...
Project information was provided in an earlier story.
http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/ju...
July 28, 2009 at 9:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
howarddecker says...
I think a LOT of questions need to be asked. I'm checking with the Secretary of State.
I see this ECBG LLC, with John Marcus Sommers as the registered agent was just formed July 13, 2009
I can't even find a Jumbo Fox registered.
Can't find anything on Generationally Correct Media.
Eschelman is mis-spelled (sp Eshelman) and hasn't been an active corporation for years.
As far as I can tell Foster's is the only legit business.
This looks like a grab for free money!
What am I as a tax payer going to get out of this?
How can I be sure this is actually going to be used for what it was intended?
Who is questioning this????
July 28, 2009 at 9:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
heritage_sarahhochschwender says...
howard, read the above mentioned article. it details this information. ecbg is a terrific new brazilian restaurant which is opening in the eshelman building. there was an article on this business in a recent edition http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2009/ju...
the decision was obviously too late for the reporter to make the morning edition. i am certain more detailed information will be forthcoming.
a lot of clarification on the very stringent requirements and the checks and balances was discussed at the council meeting. the money is being well supervised and the projects are viable, imo.
really excited to see a very nice new restaurant entering the downtown market. now we have two excellent restaurants available.... el jalapeno and em chamas!
July 28, 2009 at 10:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mm1967 says...
Just like our city goverment to put this money in downtown and restraunts and bars, I do not think this is the only area of town that could have benefitted from this stimulus money. This is just what this town needs more restraunants with low paying jobs. They should have just stuck to their original plans and not accepted the money and let some other town have it that would have spent it wisely.
July 28, 2009 at 3:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
fike says...
At last nights meeting, Gerald McCush answered most, if not all, of those concerns and laid out very specifically what guidelines would be used to ensure these projects deliver what they promise.
These five projects provided the most in terms of economic development of those that applied. The individuals associated with the LLC's would have to sign personal guarantees which would make them liable for failure to produce their target results. The timeline to achieve results is much quicker than the federal government's version of "shovel ready." And receipts have to be produced in order to get reimbursement, so it isn't like a bag of money is being handed over.
July 28, 2009 at 4:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lbc says...
It would be niece to see Mr McCush's answers in writing so we could first know who the individuals are....are those LLCs limited or are the individuals personally liable.
Query...what are the timelines.............?
And, will we see the "personal guarantees" so we can see how "results" are defined...?
The devil is in the details...
July 28, 2009 at 5:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
heritage_sarahhochschwender says...
lbc, the individuals will also be held personally liable. the time constraints were clearly defined, more stringent than typical cdbg funding guidelines, and were restricted further by creating a "draw" process which would entail certification of completed work. also, if any of the applicants became insolvent or closed the money would be redirected to other qualifying entities.
as fike states, mccush was fairly clear on where this project was heading. i suspect that the reporter was simply unable to include all the info in this article due to time of publication and that we should look for additional information tomorrow........the meeting ran a bit late.
July 28, 2009 at 5:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )