County declines to finance *STAR* efforts

The County has decided against a formal sponsorship of Stanardsville Area Revitalization's (*STAR's) effort to revamp the Town.
"When we received the paperwork that would make us the sponsor we realized that the entire financial management of project would be placed on the County," explains Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Steve Catalano.
*STAR* has been receiving money - and hopes to continue to receive money -- in the form of Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) grants, as well as grants administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
The grant application process has been ongoing, with applications sometimes overlapping one another, and at the end of March, the process hit a glitch pertaining to VDOT's TEA-21 grants.
"According to VDOT rules, sponsorship requires an agency that is not a not-for-profit agency, as *STAR* is, to receive and administer the funds," *STAR* President Don Pamenter explains.
And the reception and administration of those funds, Catalano says, means that "essentially, the County would have to be a bank.”
"We couldn't be more supportive of *STAR*'s efforts," explains Catalano. "But the Board was unwilling to assume that responsibility when we have so many more projects - such as water and sewer, pump stations and parks and recreation -- to pursue that will benefit more people."
As a result, at the Town Council's regularly scheduled meeting June 10, *STAR* President Don Pamenter asked that body's permission to continue discussions he had entered into with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission.
"There are three eligible sponsors," Pamenter told the Record after the meeting. Those are: The Town; the County, and the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC).
The Town, with a population of 476 people with a median income of $24,643 as of the 2000 census, lacks the financial resources to commit to formal sponsorship.
Pamenter went to TJPDC looking for sponsorship.
What TJPDC does is develop partnerships and collaborations with local governments, communities, and agencies. Accordingly, it is responsive to requests for assistance with implementation and funding.
Pamenter found an ally in Bill Wanner, TJPDC's senior regional planner.
TJPDC, Wanner said, "Is a little more comfortable with the financial responsibility."
Wanner continued: "We have an interest in doing this if *STAR* will enter into a contract that clearly states the responsibilities of both parties. Our bottom line is that we want to make the (revitalization of Stanardsville) a success."
Pamenter is willing to sign such a document. "We look forward to working with TJPDC," he says. "TJPDC got revitalization (effort) started in 2003 by doing a study for the Town and leading the effort for grant money."
*STAR*'s efforts to revitalize the Town of Stanardsville got firmly underway in 2006 when *STAR* was awarded a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), designed to help communities improve themselves.
A CDBG is a planning grant designed to help identify opportunities to improve economic and physical conditions within a community, and to implement economic development strategies.
TEA-21 grants are awarded for projects ranging from renovations of depots and taverns and landscape and lighting along streetscapes to a statewide Civil War driving tour.
Grants have helped *STAR* identify economic opportunities and to implement economic strategies. And, they have enabled the hiring of K. W. Poore & Associates as well as an executive director.
At the end of March, *STAR* applied for up to $1 million in grant money to assist with storefront upgrades, building restoration, infrastructure improvements and small business loans located within a project area that encompasses parts of Main Street and Ford Avenue.
Pamenter says that if *STAR* is awarded that grant, between $12,500 and $15,000 per façade could be available to owners of property within the project area. In their turn, qualifying property owners would be required to match those funds for internal improvements. There may also be additional funds available for improving the backs of buildings.
The vision statement that accompanied the application consisted of what *STAR* believes the Stanardsville area could be like in 15 to 20 years if a revitalization program is implemented successfully.
It lists the area's assets as historic buildings, its rural setting and closeness to the Shenandoah National Park, the Skyline Drive and the Appalachian Trail.
It projects that some two dozen locally-owned specialty shops and personal service providers -- such as coffee shops, restaurants and inns that offer a unique blend of food and eating experience -- will make Stanardsville appealing to local and regional customers.
But right now, the project needs a sponsor.