AVON-BY-THE-SEA — State grant money may be available to local businesses adversely affected by the upcoming closure of the Route 71/Main Street bridge, the Avon-By-The-Sea Board of Commissioners announced at Monday’s meeting.
Earlier on Monday, borough officials met with state officials from the Economic Development Administration (EDA), a government agency that provides grants and technical assistance to economically distressed communities in order to generate new employment, help retain existing jobs and stimulate industrial and commercial growth.
“They really offer tremendous services to small businesses,” said Mayor Edward Bonanno. “We reached out to the businesses. They (EDA) are going to help us reach directly out to the businesses as well.”
“There are lots of grant opportunities for the small businesses that we really want to help our businesses take advantage of,” he added. “They (the businesses) would have to apply for them, but it sounds like with some of these, it’s not that difficult to process.”
The mayor also announced that the board plans to have a resolution ready for the next meeting on Feb. 10 that will lay the groundwork for the borough’s new downtown committee, in terms of planning events.
The borough has already received the interest of many townspeople who want to participate in the downtown committee, and officials said that after the resolution has been approved, they will be contacted in the coming weeks.
MUNICIPAL GYM UPGRADES
The board also authorized a temporary bleacher relocation and reinstallation work at the municipal gym for Degler Whiting Inc. of Frazer, Pennsylvania for a total of up to $9,810.
The proper disassembling and reinstallation of the bleachers is needed in preparation of the forthcoming floor replacement.
Check out our other Avon-by-the-Sea stories, updated daily. And remember to pick up a copy of The Coast Star—on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.
Subscribe today! If you're not already an annual subscriber to The Coast Star, get your subscription today! For just $38 per year, you will receive local mail delivery weekly, with pages and pages of local news and online access to our e-edition on Starnewsgroup.com.