PLANS FOR AUBURN BUILDING COULD INCLUDE MUSIC HALL OF FAME

Manowar from Facebook

 

Auburn heavy metal band Manowar might not make it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, but they could become Hall of Famers nonetheless. 

Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason says plans for the first floor of the former bank building at 120 Genesee St. could include a local music Hall of Fame.

 

The California couple that owns the building is seeking $2 million through the Restore NY program to redevelop the property with a period facade, retail space downstairs and apartments upstairs. The City Council held a public hearing on the grant application at its meeting Thursday.

The city also plans to apply for Restore NY funding for the former Bombardier rail car plant at 151 Orchard St. A French company that also makes rail cars has purchased Bombardier's transportation division. Alsum has not yet said what their plans are for the building.

By the way, if you want to see Manowar, you'll need a plane ticket. The band begins a European tour next week in Pardubice in the Czech Republic.

You can listen to my full Flx Ted Podcast with Chuck Mason below.

THE FLX TED PODCAST - AUBURN CITY CLERK CHUCK MASON

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

In our latest weekly conversation:

• There was a public hearing at this week's City Council meeting on the Restore NY grant application for work at the former bank building at 120 Genesee St. and the former Bombardier rail car plant at 151 Orchard St.
• Mayor Quill issued a Dr. Martin Luther King Day proclamation, calling for a day of service. There will be an MLK church service Sunday at 3PM at the Apostolic Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, 103 Fitch Ave.
• The council discussed issuing a resolution calling on the state to take action on proposed regulations for the Owasco Lake watershed.
• The new State Senator representing Auburn, Rachel May, will attend next week's council meeting.

Our theme music is "Sugar Zone" by Silent Partner. You can find their music and other copyright-free music here.

 

 

 

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BOMBARDIER OWNERS HAVE PLANS FOR FORMER AUBURN RAIL CAR PLANT

Former Bombardier plant from the north, courtesy city of Auburn

An Auburn factory building that hasn't produced anything in over 15 years may get a new life.

The Auburn City Council has scheduled a public hearing for this week's meeting on the city's plans to apply for Restore NY grant funding for two properties.

The first is the former Bombardier rail car plant at 151 Orchard St. The city hopes to get $10 million to renovate the plant. Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason says Alstom, a French rail car maker, has been in contact with city officials about plans for using the building.

 

Alstom acquired the Canadian company's transportation division in 2021.

The city also wants to apply for a two million dollar grant to renovate a former bank building at 120 Genesee St. The California couple that owns the building wants to put retail and/or office space on the ground floor and apartments upstairs. Plans also call for restoring the building's crumbling facade to a period look.

The hearing will be Thursday at 5PM before the regularly scheduled council meeting.

You can listen to my full Flx Ted Podcast with Chuck Mason below.

AUBURN ISSUES NOTICE TO WATER CUSTOMERS

Photo: Jenny Downing. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

 

The city of Auburn has issued a public notice to its water customers after testing showed the presence of a contaminant at one part per billion more than the allowable level.

Testing at the 33 York St. location last month showed the locational running annual average (LRAA) for total trihalomethanes (TTHM), a group of disinfection byproducts, is calculated to be 81 parts per billion (ppb). This exceeds the standard set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) of 80 parts per billion (ppb) for this contaminant. 

Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason says the notice is required by law, that there's no public health emergency, and that water customers don't need to take any action.

 

The city will flush hydrants in the affected area, and expects to get the TTHM level down to an acceptable amount within the next 90 days.

You can listen to my full Flx Ted Podcast with Chuck Mason below.

THE FLX TED PODCAST - AUBURN CITY CLERK CHUCK MASON

Photo: Former Bombardier plant, courtesy City of Auburn

 

In our first weekly visit of the New Year:

• The city has issued a public notice to water users. Testing has detected the presence of a contaminant, total trihalomethanes, a group of disinfection byproducts, at a level of 81 parts per billion, one part per billion more than the allowed level. There is no public health risk, and no action is needed by water users, but the notice is required by federal law.
• The state has notified the city that it will receive $11,049,500 from the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation for a project that will prevent water from the city's storm sewer system from getting into the Owasco River during high rain events. 

• The Council will hold a public hearing at next Thursday's meeting on Restore NY grants. One is for the former bank building at 120 Genesee St. to turn it into a mixed-use retail and residential property. The other is for the former Bombardier plant at 151 Orchard St.

Our theme music is "Sugar Zone" by Silent Partner. You can find their music and other copyright-free music here.

 

You can subscribe to my podcasts on Google Podcasts, Anchor and Spotify.

CITY OF AUBURN APPLIES FOR BRIDGENY GRANT FUNDING

By Martin Kraft - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=107029768

  

The city of Auburn has applied for funding under the state's BridgeNY program in hopes of continuing to make repairs to aging bridges and culverts in the city.

The state has increased the program to $200 million a year in its most recent five year Capital Plan.

Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason says in recent years, the city has completed work on the State St. and North Division St. bridges. He tells us what bridges are on the drawing board for future work.

 

Mason says if the BridgeNY application is approved, design work on the projects will begin 2023 and will take a few years to finish.

You can hear my full Flx Ted Podcast with Chuck Mason below.

AUBURN CITY COUNCIL ACCEPTS NYSERDA GRANT

Photo: NYSERDA Facebook page

 

The Auburn City Council has voted to officially accept a $5,000 NYSERDA grant.

The money was awarded under the Clean Energy Communities program.  

Communities that meet certain guidelines in providing clean energy for their residents are eligible for designation as Clean Energy Communities, making them eligible for grants. The more points cities accumulate, the bigger the grants they can receive.

The city has already received the money. Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason says it will be used for LED lighting at the Slow Sand Filter building at the water filtration plant.

The city of Auburn has completed seven high-impact actions under the program, receiving 2,000 points toward NYSERDA grants. A number of Cayuga County communities are taking part in the program.

Listen to my full FLX Ted Podcast with Chuck Mason below.

CITY OF AUBURN SEEKS INPUT ON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT

 

The city of Auburn has posted an online survey asking residents how they want federal Community Development Block Grant funds spent next year. 

The survey on the city website asks residents to rank five potential uses of the money in order of importance. They are park improvements, water and sewer line replacement, sidewalk improvements, demolition of unsafe buildings and neighborhood revitalization.

It goes on to ask questions about specific projects. Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason says the money is targeted toward lower income neighborhoods. 

 

The city hold two meetings to gather input. They will be Wednesday at 10AM in the City Council chambers at City Hall and at 5:30PM at the Booker T. Washington Community Center at 23 Chapman Ave.

You can hear my full FLX Ted Podcast with Chuck Mason below. 

CITY OF AUBURN APPLIES FOR TREE REPLACEMENT GRANT

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources - Forestry Archive, CC BY 3.0 US https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/deed.en via Wikimedia Commons

The city of Auburn is applying for a $50,000 state grant to replace ash trees damaged by the Emerald Ash Borer.

The state DEC has launched the Tree Planting in Disadvantaged Communities After Ash Loss Grant Program to help communities whose ash trees have been devastated by the invasive pest. The DEC says the Emerald Ash Borer was first spotted in New York in Cattaraugus County in 2009. It has has since spread to every New York county but three.

 

Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason says the grant money will also be used to remove damaged trees, which can become a hazard. 

 

If the state approves the grant application, the city will begin planting new ash trees in the fall of 2023.

Listen to my full FLX Ted Podcast with Chuck Mason below. We recap the City Council meeting every Friday.

THE FLX TED PODCAST - AUBURN CITY CLERK CHUCK MASON

Photo: Ash tree, Wikimedia

The FLX Ted Podcast is where we talk about the people and stories making news in the Finger Lakes.

In this episode, Auburn City Clerk Chuck Mason recaps this week's City Council meeting. 

The city applied for a state grant to help replace ash trees devastated by the Emerald Ash Borer.

The Council officially accepted a $5,000 Clean Energy Communities grant from NYSERDA for LED lighting at the water filtration plant. 

The city is applying for BridgeNY funding for bridge and culvert projects throughout the city.

There's a survey on the city website where residents can give their input into projects they'd like to see funded in the 2023-24 federal Community Development Block Grant program. There will be a pair of public input meetings on the CDBG program on Wednesday, December 7th.

Finally, we talked about the changes coming to city government with the announcement that Mayor Mike Quill will retire at the end of 2023. City Councilor Jimmy Giannettino has indicated interest in running for Mayor. 

Our theme music is "Sugar Zone" by Silent Partner. You can find their music and other copyright-free music here.

You can subscribe to my podcasts on Anchor and Spotify.