The Biddeford City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to fill the gap in funding for repairs and renovations to the Seeds of Hope Neighborhood Center, a private resource for the city’s unhoused residents.
The council’s move Tuesday is expected to solve lingering issues and questions about a shortfall of $255,000 of the $1.2 million project. (See Previous story)
Biddeford City Manager James Bennett reminded councilors and stressed the fact that the renovations at Seeds of Hope was never a city project. Instead, the city decided last year to award the non-profit agency with funding that would come from federal grants.
When the project was first proposed last year, the council voted to direct federal funds the city receives from Community Development Block Grants (CDBG).
Shortly after the renovation project started, the city learned that certain parts of the project did not meet the some of the criteria required for federal funds.
“I wasn’t happy with this from day one. The mechanics of this process were ugly from the start”
–– Councilor Marc Lessard
Jim Godbout – a well-known plumber and community volunteer – was chosen by Seeds of Hope to lead the renovation project.
Despite the fact that funding for the two-phase project was now uncertain, Godbout and Seeds opted to press forward with the work so that it would done before the start of winter.
Awarding money to the Seeds of Hope, gave the city additional leverage and options for dealing with problematic homeless encampments throughout the city.
When the city of Biddeford decided to clean-out an encampment located near Mechanic’s Park last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court had yet to rule on a case filed by homeless advocates. That pending lawsuit required municipal governments to provide an alternative if they would not allow unhoused encampments.
In July, the city decided to direct federal funds to Seeds of Hope as a way to move forward with cleaning out the encampments.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, Bennett told the council the city could “just swap some funding around” so that Seeds of Hope, Godbout and his team would not be left hanging for work already performed.
The city council unanimously voted to follow Bennett’s recommendation of pulling $255,000 from the city’s contingency account.
Councilor Marc Lessard said using the contingency funds was “the right thing to do,” but harshly criticized the process to help fund the renovations for a non-profit organization.
“I wasn’t happy with this from day one,” Lessard said. “The mechanics of this process were ugly, but we do have an obligation to make things right.”
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