The chances that Auburn will see any Downtown Revitalization Initiative projects completed by the summer are slim. There might not even be a single project started by then, but city officials suggest that making the DRI timeline a lengthy one was purposeful.
At the February Wednesday Morning Roundtable meeting at the Auburn Hilton Garden Inn, Kimberly Baptiste of Bergmann Associates, the consulting firm hired by the city to facilitate DRI meetings, said projects in other communities in New York are "absolutely moving forward," but they do take time to develop.
In July, Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared Auburn as a central New York DRI recipient of $10 million to boost the city's downtown economy. Almost seven months later, Auburn's Local Planning Committee, which is tasked with suggesting projects worthy of DRI funding to the state, is still working to finalize its list.
Last month, the LPC identified a preliminary "wedding registry" of projects. The total cost of proposed projects was trimmed from $21.7 million to $12.3 million. These projects will be further defined at the next LPC meeting, Tuesday, Feb. 26.
The Auburn Citizen:
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