This Week's Beacon City Council Workshop Agenda Highlights - 4/25/2022

Tonight’s Beacon City Council Workshop Meeting was pretty benign, until the City Administrator Chris White revealed that he was not inclined to grant the Howland Cultural Center their request for funding. He cited two reasons:

  1. That they hadn’t spent their first $50K from an earlier and different grant, and

  2. That they object to things their building neighbors do.

ALBB reached out to the Howland Cultural Center to find out more about both items. The City Administrator’s declaration came after Councilmember Justice McCray made a strong point to vocalize how they would like to discuss even the discussion of the handful of Mark Price’s recommendations of the organizations that had applied, and why the others weren’t considered. Mark Price is the City of Beacon Parks and Recreation Director.

Justice also stated that they were looking forward to the project that the Howland Cultural Center was proposing funding for: Said Justice: “It's a situation that is showcasing a history of Beacon we don't otherwise see. This program would be free. Multiple programs throughout the city. I don't know the Black history of Beacon, and this project would hep that.”

Find this week’s agenda reposted here at ALBB for easy access. Highlights from the meeting are below:

  • Several changes to traffic regarding Fountain Square, East Main Street, proposed 3-way stop at the Dummy Light, and many other suggestions from the always busy Main Street Access Committee.

  • A bit of intro to the initial design plans for the Tompkins Hose Firehouse.

  • Discussion around which community organizations may be receiving funding from the City of Beacon. One interesting point was how the Howland Cultural Center did apply for funding, but the City Administrator was reluctant to give to them. ALBB has inquired with the Howland Cultural Center to confirm the reasons he stated.