Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Calumet VillageDDA Executive Director Leah Polzien dicussed an available MEDC grant that would provide $300,000 for the Green Space where the Farmer’s Market takes place, although she did not offer details on the what the plans for the space include.

CALUMET — Leah Polzien, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and chairwoman of Main Street Calumet, presented a DDA report to the Village Council during its regular meeting Tuesday, in which she discussed the possibility for an application of a Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) Public Gathering Spaces Initiative grant for the vacant back-to-back lots on Fifth and Sixth streets, commonly referred to as the Green Space.

“It is a $200,000 minimum grant, and it has a 10% cash match-only requirement,” said Polzien, “which is great,” adding that the grant allows the DDA to get quite a bit of leverage.

Polzien said for the past two years, the DDA has been trying to develop a plan of what to do with the two lots, one of which is located between the Calumet Theatre and Shute’s Saloon, on Sixth Street. Steve DeLong, National Park Service architect, she said, has developed a plan for the DDA.

There was a public hearing on it in August, 2020, she said, which was conducted outside because of the COVID-19 lockdowns, at which a lot of input was gathered from the public.

Since that time, a number of trees required removal, and much as changed, which necessitated a re-design on the Theatre lot.

“The application is due on April 15th,” said Polzien, “and it is not a small application.”

It is a CBDG-style application like that of the facade grant, she said, meaning there is a large amount of information to put together.

Polzien said the DDA has budgeted $10,000 toward the match, which is half the required amount. For the remainder, she asked if the council would consider contributing the revenue from the insurance settlement from the Evergreen property that was destroyed by fire last spring.

“What I was thinking,” she said, “from the council, is we have this insurance money coming in, if the village collects the settlement on the Evergreen insurance.”

It is approximately $20,000 that the insurance company is offering, she said.

“What I’m suggesting is that we take that money, pool it with the $10,000 from the DDA, and put it into this project,” she said.

A grant total of $300,000 for that space sounds almost ridiculous, she admitted, but, in reality, it does not go very far, she added.

A trustee asked Polzien how much of the funding would go toward planning vs. how much would be put toward actual construction.

Polzien said that while DeLong is creating a concept drawing for the DDA, he also has fairly detailed cost estimates. From that, the DDA will have to have construction details and drawings done, but she did not have a budget for it, but those costs would be written into the grant.

Trustee Andrew Ranville said that he would like to see the Green Space project completed, because it has shown positive economic impact to the village and the Farmer’s Market vendors.

Trustee Ken Olkkonen supported the idea, he said, because he has seen the success of the Farmer’s Market in that space, and the market has generated a store front. Polzien said that the village could expect additional store fronts in the future.

“I’ll just say that,” she said.

Village President Rob Tarvis commented that the funding to repair the roof of the Evergreen building years ago came from the DDA, so he felt the insurance settlement belongs to the DDA.

Village President Rob Tarvis said that in order to meet the April 15 application deadline, the council will need to schedule a special meeting before that time in order for the trustees can vote on whether to approve the permission to apply for the grant.

Due to the short time in which the DDA and the village must have the application completed, the village approved accepting the settlement from the insurance company and returning it to the DDA to apply for the grant.