A potential $9 million grant for Letnikof Dock work is off the table for now after the borough missed the deadline to submit its grant application.
The possibility of a federal BUILD grant for the project was taken up only recently, with the assembly giving the go-ahead to apply on Feb. 10. Harbormaster Henry Pollan said the borough began considering the grant in earnest after a potential deal with a cruise line to partially fund the dock fell through.
The borough anticipated meeting the grant application deadline on Tuesday this week, with borough manager Alekka Fullerton initially writing in her manager’s report to the assembly this week that the application had been submitted.
But according to Fullerton, the borough’s contracts and grants administrator Helen Alten did not submit the grant before the application portal closed.
Alten described a rushed process, which other borough staff, including Fullerton and Pollan echoed. “We knew it was a longshot and knew it was incredibly rushed to get it done,” Fullerton said.
But while Fullerton said she had not expected to receive the grant, she said submitting the application regardless would have drawn key feedback from the granting agency, and potentially improved chances of receiving the grant in future years.
Alten, while responsible for compiling and submitting the grant, said the content of the grant application was set to come from other sources and departments, including letters of support and a project budget, which she said she did not receive until the day before the deadline.
When asked about the budget information, Pollan said it had been available on the borough website in project reviews done by the Ports and Harbors Advisory Committee.
“I could’ve pressed the button five minutes earlier but it wasn’t going to fly,” Alten said. “It didn’t have everything we needed… You need more than two weeks for a big grant like this.”
Fullerton said she would be using some of the content of the grant application next week to apply for congressionally directed spending for the dock project.