More parking in Onset. A pier on Merchants Way. Walking paths along the bluffs.

Those are just a few of the projects for which Director of Planning Ken Buckland plans to request funds through a new, streamlined state grant process called Community One Stop for Growth.

Community One Stop for Growth is a new portal that will allow municipalities to apply for a variety of state funding with a single application. By having applications in a single portal, communities have the “ability to be considered for more than one grant program simultaneously,” according to the initiative’s website. 

The process will save the town time by eliminating the need to research and draft grant applications for several state agencies and programs. 

At the Feb. 4 Redevelopment Authority meeting, Buckland said the town needs to provide the state with an “expression of interest” for each project. He identified a list of seven projects that the town might want to have considered for grants:

1. Improving options for pedestrians and increasing parking in Onset. While some grant funding is already being used to redo certain walkways, Buckland said the town hopes to do further sidewalk improvements and think about additional parking options. Ideally, he said the town wants people to be able to “park near the beach or town center and have a nice walk into the village.”
2. Installing a railroad crossing signal that would allow people to safely cross the train tracks on Merchants Way, and constructing a pier and waterfront walkway along the road. Buckland said this would allow residents to access and enjoy the waterfront.
3. Providing sewer access for existing and future development near Glen Charlie Road, which Buckland described as a densely packed area that currently relies on septic systems.
4. Repairing and rebuilding parts of the Onset Pier, ensuring the harbormaster’s structure is protected from floods and improving walkways so people can “enjoy a walk along the bluffs.”
5. Preparing the John W. Decas School property for reuse and potential development once the new elementary school on Minot Avenue is built and ready for students. Buckland said grant funding could cover many things, including demolition if the school building isn’t usable or working toward rezoning the property.
6. Repairing and improving industrial park roads and adding sidewalks. Buckland said the roads haven’t been maintained well, and noted that sidewalks would benefit those who wish to take walks on their lunch hour or bike to work.
7. Mitigating the costs of addressing the groundwater pollution from the former dry cleaners at 274 Main Street, so that the new owner of the property can open a restaurant at that location.

Buckland said he would fill out applications to express interest for those projects starting on Feb. 8. 

After submitting the expressions of interest — but before the grant applications open on May 3 —  Buckland said the state would review the projects and provide feedback. 

Buckland wasn’t sure exactly what the feedback would look like because the process is new. But he said he expected it would be “hints of what could make [the grant application] a competitive application” when full applications were submitted.

“We’d get input from the state agencies about what the opportunity is and what would be needed to make it happen,” Buckland told members of the Redevelopment Authority. “So that we can prioritize and further develop the applications that we submit between May and June.”

Judith Whiteside, a selectman and a member of the Redevelopment Authority, asked what projects Buckland thought would be most likely to be awarded grant funding.

Primarily, he said the state wanted to support “anything to do with housing,” and noted that the list of projects he had identified weren’t housing related.

“I think the downtown work [...] if that’s related to supporting private development, jobs, taxes, housing that comes along with it, they’re going to be very supportive of that as well,” Buckland added. “So I think that’s an opportunity we have as long as we position it correctly.”

Redevelopment Authority member Richard Swenson said he trusted Buckland to pick the projects that would have a high probability of being awarded grant funding.