Historic Dis Public Improve ProC~ty ~
(563) 5894221 fox
(563) 690~678 TDD
p Immh~g~cityo f dubuque.or g
July 28, 2003
The Honorable Mayor and City Council Membem
City of Dubuque
City Hall-50W. 13~Street
Dubuque, lA 52001
RE: Histodc Distdct Public Improvement Program
Dear Mayor and City Council Members:
The Historic Preservation Commission is requesting that the City Council reconsider approving
and funding the Historic District Public Improvement Program Applications. These projects
were denied at your July 21, 2003 meeting so that the Histodc District Public Improvement
Program funds could be used to help offset the City's budget shortfall.
The Histodc District Public Improvement Program has been a multi-year commitment by the
Commission and by Neighborhood Associations, beginning with the development of the Historic
District Streetscape Guidelines approved by the City Council last spdng. Over the last one to
two years, the Neighborhood Associations have put considerable time and effort into their
applications and have already raised their matching funds. In addition, several of the
Neighborhood Associations received Neighborhood Grants eadier in the year from the City of
Dubuque's Community Development Block Grant Program to help match the Histodc District
Public Improvement Program funds.
The $139,450 budgeted for the Historic Distdct Public Improvement Program is a carryover of
funds from Fiscal Year 2003. The Commission is concerned that the HDPIP applications are a
victim of timing during this budget cdsis. Ifthe HDPIP applications had been submitted earlier in
Fiscal Year 2003, then they would have been funded. We would ask that the City Council look
to other projects or programs in the current Fiscal Year 2004 budget to balance the budget.
The Histodc Preservation Commission respectfully requests that the HDPIP applications be
approved as recommended by the Commission, and that the $139,450 in Fiscal Year 2003
funding be restored to the Histodc District Public Improvement Program.
Respectfully submitted,
~an~d, Ch i~e~rson
Historic Preservation Commission
CC:
Michael Van Milligen, City Manager
Laura Carstens, Planning Services Manager
Jerelyn O'Connor, Neighborhood Development Specialist
Service People Integ~eity Responsibility Innovation Teamwork
July 23, 2003
Doug Stillings
1255 Locust St.
Dubuque, IA 52001
The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
The City of Dubuque
50 West 13a Street
Dubuque IA 52001
Dear Mayor Duggan and Council Members:
On July 21st the City Council did not approve a number of Historic District Public
Improvement Program grant requests due to the funding issues now facing the City.
Included in these requests were two fi:om the Downtown Neighborhood Council. We
appreciate the difficult decisions you are faced with as you balance to wants and needs of
so many factions within the City and the limited funding available to meet those needs.
We respectfully suggest you approve our two projects without funding them. This would
allow us to move ahead with the projects should we find alternative funding, without
coming back to you for project approval. Because these projects involve the purchase
and installation of permanent improvements in the public right-of-way we will need your
approval regardless of our funding sources. We hope to find alternative sources of
funding for some portion of the projects and request the authority to proceed as funding
becomes available.
Thank you again for your continued support of our organization, and the other
neighborhood organizations in the city. We wish to continue to work with you and City
staff to improve the quality of life in our do~vntown, and make our community a more.
pleasant, safer place to live and work.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Doug'Stillings J
President, Downtown Neighborhood Council
Cc: Mr. Michael Van Milligen Ms. Laura Carstens
Ms. Jerelyn O'Connor
July 22, 2003
The Honorable Mayor and City Council Membem
City of Dubuque
50 West 13~a Street
Dubuque, IA 52001
I'I[I<iHBOI~glOOD
A$$O(IATIOH
Dear Mayor Duggan and City Council Members,
On behalf of Historic Bluffs Neighborhood Association (HBNA), I urge you to repeal
denial of the HNBA application for Historic Lighting along Loras Boulevard through
HDPIP.
A repeal of the recent denial of this project and approval of the project, without
allocating funding at this point, can provide the opportunity for three things:
1. for HBNA to continue to seek funding from other sources, using the stamps of
approval from city council and the historic preservation commission for this
worthwhile project;
2. for elimination of the need for m-application at a later date and competition with
other projects; and
3. for allowing time for the state courts to make decisions regarding gaming
revenues that would affect the CIP funds.
This city has already made a substantial financial investment in this important
neighborhood revitalization project, with grant funds of $10,000 and countless city staff
hours from the engineering, neighborhood services and planning departments. The
approval of this project, without approving funds, will help protect the funding already
raised for this project. With all the attention on our downtown and riverfront, it is critical
that we continue to improve the infrastructure of our prominent adjacent historic
neighborhoods.
We underst~_nd that the City Council has a difficult task ahead in finding funding to make
up for shortfalls in our budget, but we urge you to continue to work with us to find a
solution for making this project a reality.
David A. Cox, Treasurer
On behalf of Historic Bluffs Neighborhood Association
cc: Dubuque City Clerk, Jeanne Schneider