The Gateway Park development at the south east corner of Edgewood Rd and Route 1 has been hit by an uncertainty with the State’s Program Open Space fund. Even though the City has the grant money, it needs State’s approval to spend.
the Board of Public Works made approximately $400 million in cuts to agencies’ general fund budgets for the remaining fiscal year. The Department of Budget and Management and the Governor stated that these reductions are necessary due to reductions in revenue estimates for this current FY 2015.
The total reduction statewide is $8.1 million, of which Prince George’s County will lose approximately $1.8 million. Since College Park represents approximately 3.52 % of the total County population, the City’s portion of the cut will be $64,127. Not including this anticipated cut (a budget reconciliation bill must be passed in the current session), and the City’s Program Open Space funds that are already encumbered, the City at the end of FY14 had approximately $2 million in total Program Open Space funding (for both acquisition and development).
I’ll keep you posted as I find more.
Update [3/27/2015]: We’ve got some update yesterday afternoon. Staff told us that the State is now accepting applications from municipalities to obligate the Program Open Space (POS) grant money. The City plans to submit application soon for the final approval so that it can obligate any unencumbered funds for the Hollywood Gateway Park. Staff will also work on the acquisition of the area at the entrance of the proposed park. The owner of the lot is cooperating so far.
The project has not been bid so we don’t know for sure if we have enough funds. Allocating $76,000 in FY16 POS funds would certainly help . The developer contribution from the Greenbelt Station project has been received and is available.
If everything goes well and we get all the funds, construction may start as early as this Fall.
