Grant Denials
- Mill City Park at Franklin Falls
- Feb 27, 2024
- 2 min read
City Councilor Leigh Webb reached out to Mill City Park trying to understand a topic that has ad been echoing through the social media chambers.
In the first half of 2023, there were 12 public forum discussions for our community to discuss bonding as a possible solution to move forward four projects (the whitewater park, road improvements, redevelopment of Franklin's City Hall and Opera House and the Trestle Bridge rehabilitation). The goal was to increase communication, discuss projects and problems openly, and try to relay that Franklin's tax capped revenues couldn't support these project improvements.
One of the reasons supporting this idea was a concept of Grant Denials or Grant Ineligibility. Would Franklin or was Franklin getting to a socioeconomic point that grants would be harder to get. For many decades, being the poorest and smallest state in New Hampshire, meant grants were easier to receive.
Conversation around the bonds spread like wildfire on social media. That lead to mistrust, slander, and defamation of individuals, nonprofits, and businesses. It reinforced national rhetoric themes and pulled them into Franklin, dividing our community into US vs. THEM.
The timing of these bond conversations were very challenging for residents - we were still reeling as a nation, trying to get out of the Covid-19 pandemic, a Franklin tax reassessment on our community, which for some meant higher property taxes, and a larger than life year over year inflation increase that challenged every facet of daily life for Americans.
City Councilor Leigh Webb reached out regarding the topic, he asked Mill City Park:
What grants were denied for Mill CIty Park projects? What organization applied for these grants and why were they denied?
Have there been grants sought by Mill City Park that were denied due to a change in the city's economic status?
The economic development team has stated that the city's changing economic status does affect their ability to receive grants. Is this true?
During February 26, 2024's City Council Meeting, Mill City Park presented the below document on the subject, walking through the document and answering questions. The document was provided to all councilors. We did our best to answer the questions succinctly with factual information from that moment in time.
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