SPECIALIZING IN:Grants

Housing

Community De vel op ment

Economic De vel op ment

Research

Business Planning

Loan Packages

Home Inspections

Radon Testing

Bernard ThomaPresident

34 Tompkins StreetCortland, NY 13045607-753-1433607-753-6818 fax

email:tdc@thomadevelopment.com

Serving the

Community

for Over

20 Years

A Newsletter of Thoma Development Consultants December 2002

At a press conference held on the banks of the Tioughnioga River on September 4, ThomaDevelopment Consultants was named the 2002 Cortland County “Quality Community Award Winner”in recognition of its “significant contribution to the community promoting downtown revitalization,historic preservation, and economic development.” New York State Secretary of State, Randy A.Daniels, joined Cortland County Business Development Corporation Executive Director, LindaHartsock, in making the award. Secretary Daniels and Ms. Hartsock were also joined by City ofCortland Mayor, Mary Leonard, Village of Homer Mayor, Richard Beebe, and other County officials inrecognizing TDC.

The Quality Community Award is presented annually by the BDC. The award is patternedafter the principles developed by the Governorʼs Interagency Task Force on Quality Communities. Inpresenting the award, Linda Hartsock noted, “ It is extremely fitting that Thoma be recognized withthis award. Thomaʼs hallmark is quality, both in terms of the community development services itprovides to local municipalities, as well as the values it instills in its employees who are involved involunteer activities with many nonprofit community groups across the county. This awardrecognizes the entire Thoma team, and the vision of its president, Bernie Thoma.”

Linda spoke of TDCʼs work in preparing Cortland Countyʼs successful Empire Zoneapplication approved in June of 2001, and our role in securing funding for the TioughniogaRiverfront Trail, two projects of great importance to Cortlandʼs economic revitalization efforts. Wewere also commended for our housing, community development, economic development, research,project financing, and specialized residential services for Cortland communities including the City ofCortland, Villages of Homer, Marathon, and McGraw, and the Towns of Cortlandville, Harford, Lapeer,Cincinnatus, Cuyler, Freetown, Willet, and Virgil.

TDC is proud to have been selected for this award. It provides us added incentive tocontinue to work even harder on behalf of our customers!

TDC staff assembles along the Tioughnioga River inYaman Park with Secretary of State Randy Daniels

2

TDC COMPLETES ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY FOR TC3

TDC recently completed an economicimpact study for Tompkins Cortland CommunityCollege (TC3). The purpose of the study is toanalyze the impact of the expenditures of thecollege itself, including payroll and vendorpayments, and the impact of the expenditures ofthe collegeʼs foundation, Faculty StudentAssociation, students, and visitors. The Studymakes particular note of the economic benefits ofthe college on Cortland and Tompkins Counties,the sponsoring counties of TC3.

The Study notes that, overall, the collegepresently contributes $72.5 million annually to thearea economy with $16.1 million of impact inCortland County, and $35.7 million in TompkinsCounty, where the TC3 main campus is located.The college anticipates constructing newresidential student housing that would increasestudent enrollment. An increase in studentenrollment positively impacts all areas of college

expenditures. There would also be an economicbenefit generated by the construction of thebuilding and the construction jobs that the projectwould create.

A recently completed Campus Master Planincludes the construction of new digital media andinstruction space, a new cyber café and studentevent area, a new conference center for thecollegeʼs corporate training activities, a newathletic facility, and the construction orimprovement of college infrastructure. Basedupon the completion of the Master Plan projectsand the student housing, during academic year2006, the collegeʼs economic impact on thecommunity jumps to $93 million.

Our contacts for this project were collegePresident Carl Haynes, and Comptroller BlixyTaetzsch. It was a pleasure working for TC3 onthis important Study.

TDC WELCOMES NEW CUSTOMERS

TDC would like to welcome five newcustomers. These customers include the Towns ofNelson, Truxton, and Georgetown, the Village ofPort Byron, and the Cortland County PlanningDepartment.

Four of the new municipal customers willbe submitting Community Development BlockGrants in 2003. The Town of Nelson is located inMadison County. The Town hopes to construct anew municipal water tank and provide a newconnection to its well as part of its CDBGapplication. The Towns of Truxton (CortlandCounty) and Georgetown (Madison County) will besubmitting applications for community-widehousing rehabilitation. The Village of Port Byron(Cayuga County) is considering a community-widehousing rehabilitation application or possibly acomprehensive. Port Byron also signed on as a newgrant writing customer.

The Cortland County Planning Department,also a new grant writing customer, is interested inpursuing funding opportunities for three importantprojects. These include funds to complete a newComprehensive Plan for the County, to develop theGeographic Information System (GIS) capabilitiesof the Countyʼs website, and investigating thefeasibility of adding windmill power to the Countyʼsutility grid system in the hopes of reducing thecommunityʼs electric costs. TDC has identifiedfunding sources for all of these projects and hasalready submitted an application to the New YorkState Department of Transportation to fund thetransportation element of the CountyʼsComprehensive Plan.

TDC is happy to be working with thesenew customers. We look forward to assistingthem in developing needed programs and projects.We hope that all of their funding requests will besuccessful.

3

CUSTOMER HIGHLIGHT: VILLAGE OF SIDNEY

The Village of Sidney is located in thenorthwestern corner of Delaware County. With a2000 Census population of 4,068 persons, it isone of the largest political subdivisions in theCounty. TDC first began working in thecommunity through the Greater SidneyDevelopment Corporation (GSDC) in 1998. TheGSDC is a not-for-profit corporation formed in1989 to promote the development of the GreaterSidney area. TDC was hired to complete aConsolidated Plan that would help the Sidney areaaddress community issues. Subsequently, theVillage and the Sidney Community Foundation, anot-for- profit organization founded to raise fundsfor the greater Sidney area, hired TDC under ourgrant writing service. One of the major projectsidentified in the Consolidated Plan was the need toredevelop the Sherwood Heights neighborhood.

In 1929, the Bendix Aviation Corporationpurchased the Scintilla Magneto Company locatedin the Village. The company, now known asAmphenol Aerospace, remains in the Village to thisday, and employs some 1,400 persons. DuringWorld War II, Bendix Aviation was awarded wardefense contracts and employment rose to 8,000persons. In 1944, the U. S. Department of Warconstructed the Sherwood Heights Development inthe Village as temporary housing for defenseindustry workers at the plant. This was a largehousing development consisting of some 65structures. Following the war, instead ofdismantling the buildings, the government soldthem to private owners, many of them absenteelandlords. This began a long decline in theneighborhood that resulted in a decaying housingstock, occupation by a predominantly low incomepopulation, and an escalating incidence of crime.TDC has worked closely with the Village andcommunity leaders to design and implement amajor redevelopment of this neighborhood.

In 2001, TDC assisted the Village insecuring a successful CDBG award for Phase Oneof the Sherwood Heights redevelopment. TheVillage and the GSDC had acquired a number of themost dilapidated of the developmentʼs structuresthrough tax foreclosure and purchase. It was theVillageʼs intention to demolish these vacantstructures and use a portion of the CDBG award toprovide purchase subsidies to low and moderateincome households to assist them in purchasingnew single family homes to be constructed on thenewly vacant land. A subsequent award by theAffordable Housing Corporation increased thenumber of subsidies available for home purchase.

In addition to our involvement with theSherwood Heights project, TDC also assisted theVillage in securing State funds for the acquisitionof the Firemanʼs Field, a recently awardedGovernorʼs Office for Small Cities TechnicalAssistance Grant, and a tree planting grant (seearticles, pages 6 & 7). We will be working with thecommunity to continue the redevelopment effortsin Sherwood Heights. To recognize thecontributions of the many persons involved withSherwood Heights, the Village held agroundbreaking ceremony on November 14.Pictured below are the Village Mayor, Village andTDC staff, NYS financing agency and bankrepresentatives, and local and State politicalrepresentatives.

TDC has enjoyed its working relationshipwith Mayor James R. Warren, Clerk Denise Singlar,Village engineer, John Woodyshek, the rest of theVillage staff and Board, the GSDC Board, and theSidney Community Foundation. TDC welcomes theopportunity to work with the Village of Sidney.We look forward to bringing many of their neededprojects to fruition.

4

GOOD NEWS FOR THE TIOUGHNIOGA RIVER TRAIL

In October, New York State Lt. GovernorMary O. Donohue announced that the CortlandCounty Business Development Corporation wasawarded almost $800,000 to construct Phase Oneof the Tioughnioga River Trail. TDC submitted theapplication on behalf of the BDC. Cortland Countycommitted the required match of $200,000.Funding is provided by the New York StateDepartment of Transportation under the federalTransportation Enhancements Acts (TEA-21)Program.

As reported in previous editions ofThomaʼs Developments, Cortland County has beenworking aggressively to revitalize its mainwaterway, the Tioughnioga River. A localcommittee of municipal leaders, businesspersons,environmentalists, college personnel, and thecommunity at-large, lead by honorary chairman,

U. S. Congressman James Walsh, has spearheadedthe completion of a conceptual planning studyregarding where and how the trail will beconstructed. A successful application for LocalWaterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) fundsawarded to the City of Cortland on behalf of theproject will allow the eleven Cortland Countyriverfront communities to create a comprehensiveprogram which plans for the future of the River.

This TEA-21 Phase One project specificallycalls for the construction of a hard trail forpedestrians and bicyclists. It will begin at theAlbany Street Bridge in the Village of Homer andtraverse approximately 2.7 miles to Yaman Park inthe City of Cortland. TDC hopes to be workingwith the BDC and Ken Teter, Project Manager, ofK. Teter Consulting on this exciting project.

ACCESS TO INDEPENDENCE

As reported in previous editions ofThomaʼs Developments, the City of Cortland wasawarded a comprehensive CommunityDevelopment Block Grant for Fiscal Year 2001. Acomprehensive award is a larger monetary award,in this case $750,000, for a number ofinterrelated activities. In addition to housingrehabilitation in an area in and around Hyatt,Bartlett, Stephens, and Port Watson Streets, andComando and Dunsmore Avenues, waterinfrastructure improvements in the neighborhood,and an economic development project, the 2001grant included funding for Access to Independenceof Cortland County, Inc. to purchase portablehandicapped ramps. Access to Independence is anot-for-profit organization that provides advocacy,outreach, and education for those withaccessibility issues. By providing $15,000 to the

organization through the grant, the City ofCortland enabled Access to Independence topurchase more of these much-needed ramps. TheCortland Housing Assistance Council, a housingpreservation company headquartered in the City,provides ramp installation.

Pictured below are Mr. and Mrs. WalterPierce who live on Floral Avenue in the City. Mr.Pierce had not been out of his house in five yearsexcept for scheduled medical appointments. Hiswife had to call neighbors and relatives to help himdown the stairs in his wheelchair to get out of thehouse. Now Mrs. Pierce can wheel her husbanddown the ramp safely and independently. Mr.Pierce now looks forward to attending socialgatherings, recreational activities, and being ableto once again enjoy the Cortland community.

5

REHABILITATION SPOTLIGHT

The Village of Fair Haven is one of Thoma Developmentʼs newest customers. The communityreceived a Fiscal Year 2001 Community Development Block Grant for Village-wide housing rehabilitation.Richard and Betty Perrin of 513 Parsonage Street were not only willing to let their home be a sampleproperty for the grant application, but were also the first to apply for the funds. Mr. and Mrs. Perrin couldnot believe what they were getting done to their home and were very excited when work began lastwinter.

The rehabilitation work took about two weeks to complete and the results are stunning. Workincluded new roofing, including repair of structural damage, siding, windows and doors, electrical upgrades,exterior porch reconstruction, and some minor interior carpentry. A local contractor, George Hanford, dida great job and many people in the Village are commenting on the remarkable difference. Mr. and Mrs.Perrin are very pleased with the results and this past summer they finished the new look with some newflower gardens. Before and after photos of the home are shown below.

BEFORE

AFTER

6

BANNER YEAR FOR GRANT AWARDS!

None of us at TDC can remember a yearwhen there has been so much grant activity. FromBlock Grants, to downtown opportunities, toplanting trees, and more, this was the year thatour customers kept us quite busy.

Nine of our customers captured federalCommunity Development Block Grants awarded bythe Governorʼs Office for Small Cities for FiscalYear 2002. The City of Cortland and the Town ofVerona will be rehabilitating housing owned andoccupied by senior citizens. National surveysindicate that the elderly prefer to remain living intheir own homes and these projects will make thedwelling units of lower income seniors safer andmore habitable. The City of Norwich captured acomprehensive CDBG award that allows the City toundertake a variety of activities in a targetedneighborhood including housing rehabilitation,infrastructure improvements for economicdevelopment, historic preservation, handicappedaccessibility, and the demolition of an abandonedindustrial site.

The Towns of Lapeer, Locke, and Cuylerreceived CDBG funds for Town-wide housingrehabilitation while the Village of Waverly willcomplete housing rehabilitation projects in atargeted neighborhood of the Village. This isLocke and Lapeerʼs first grants, while Cuyler isworking on its fifth CDBG, and Waverly hasreceived three since 1999 with TDCʼs assistance.In the Town of Harford and the Village of Dryden,these communities will undertake improvements totheir respective municipal water districts, where amajority of low-to-moderate income residentsreside. While Norwich has its own CommunityDevelopment Office to administer its grants, TDCwill assist the City in completing its environmentalreview requirements. For all the othercommunities, TDC has been hired to provide grantadministrative services.

Both the Village of McGraw and the Villageof Union Springs were notified that they receivedState Archives grants for records management.McGraw will modify its office space so that theClerk is not running to an inconvenient place in thehighway garage to retrieve needed records. UnionSprings will use their funds to develop a databaseof its cemetery records.

Main Street New York funds were awardedto the Village of Groton and the Village ofWaterloo. Groton will use these funds toconstruct a gazebo in its park on CongerBoulevard. This park is the site of manycommunity events and is located in thecommunityʼs downtown near the Owasco Inlet.The Village of Waterloo will use its Main StreetNew York funds for a streetscape project thatincludes new sidewalks, decorative brick inlay, andtree plantings on West Main Street. This isanother project that furthers Waterlooʼs ongoingefforts to improve its Cayuga-Seneca Canal areaand the Connector Trail from its Oak Island canalport to Main Street.

The City of Cortland and the Village ofSidney were fortunate to receive Urban andCommunity Forestry Grants from the New YorkState Department of Environmental Conservationfor tree plantings on municipally owned lands.Cortland will plant trees in the right-of-ways ofthree specific streets and in one community parkwhere there are a sparse number of trees. TheVillage of Sidney (see Customer Highlight, page 3)will use its funds to plant trees in the SherwoodHeights Development as part of the neighborhoodrevitalization efforts.

But wait, thereʼs more…

7

… MORE GRANT NEWS

After three years of resubmitting itsapplication, the Village of Homerʼs persistence paidoff when it was awarded Environmental ProtectionFunds (EPF) under the parks category. The Villagehas a former swimming site that has been closed,due to filtration and insurance concerns, for anumber of years. EPF funds will be used to convertthe 8-acre former Briggs Pool located in theVillageʼs Durkee Park to a community fishing site.Funds will be used for handicapped accessibledecking, better lighting, site improvements, andimprovements to the existing bathhouse. BriggsPool has a culvert connection to the TioughniogaRiver that makes this project a perfect tie-in tothe river and trail projects being undertaken inCortland County (see page 4).

The Village of Sidney also received goodnews regarding its park project. Land and WaterConservation Funds were awarded to the Village sothat it could purchase an approximate 11-acreparcel from the Sidney Fire Department and mergethe land into the Village-owned Keith Clark Park.Since the fire department is having a difficult timewith financially keeping the park open, this grantallows the Village to acquire the parcel and savevaluable park space. The Village will also use thegrant funds to construct a creative play area onthe site.

The Village of Weedsport also receivedLand and Water Conservation Funds to improvethe Villageʼs only park, Trolley Park. Plannedimprovements include new pathways, a new picnicpavilion, an ice skating rink, a restroom facility, ballfield improvements, other general improvements,and landscaping. These funds allow the Village to

offer recreational activities in the park all yearlong.

More good news continued for the Villageof Sidney with the announcement of an award forGovernorʼs Office for Small Cities TechnicalAssistance funds. The Village will use this grantaward to develop a Strategic Plan for its CentralBusiness District. This Plan will identify changingeconomic conditions, identify current economicconditions and trends, develop opportunities forgrowth and, most importantly, solicit public inputin identifying needs. The Plan will culminate in anAction Agenda to achieve its future goals.

Sidney also received New York StateAffordable Housing funds for purchase subsidiesfor the Sherwood Heights Development. Thesefunds will be used in conjunction with theCommunity Development Block Grant that wasawarded for this needy neighborhood in 2001.

Last, but not least, the Village of UnionSprings was awarded Bond Act funds through theNew York State Department of EnvironmentalConservation to finance the cost of a belt filtersludge press at the Villageʼs WastewaterTreatment Plant. This press increases the capacityof the plant and allows the Village to acceptsewage from over 400 camps and homes alongthe Cayuga Lakefront in the Village that arepresently served by on-site systems. This will be apositive impact on the lakeʼs water quality.

TDC is happy that so many of ourcustomers were awarded grant funds, from somany different funding streams, for such a varietyof projects. We hope the New Year will continueto bring more good news.

MISSION STATEMENT

It is the mission of Thoma Development Consultants to provide services to our customers and theirclients that meet or exceed expectations. The cornerstone for our relationship with our customers and fellowemployees is respect and trust. As an organization and as individual employees, we shall continually seek toimprove our abilities to benefit our customers. This mission is the shared responsibility of all employees.

8

CORTLAND CONSOLIDATED PLAN COMPLETED

TDC, in conjunction with the SUNYCortland Community Outreach Partnership Center(COPC), recently completed a Consolidated Planfor Cortland County. This plan includes a Housingand Homeless Needs Assessment, an analysis ofthe local housing market, and a Strategic Plan fordealing with the Countyʼs prioritized housing andnon-housing issues.

The COPC is funded by a grant from theUnited States Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment. This three year project is aimed atextending the talent, expertise, and manpower ofthe college to the surrounding community. Dr.Craig Little and staff of the collegeʼs SociologyDepartment prepared the successful COPCapplication. The grant involves six separate coreprograms: community planning, housing, crimeprevention, economic development, job trainingand education, and research and evaluation. Theconcept for the development of a ConsolidatedPlan arose from the activities of the SUNY CortlandCOPC Program. Preparation of this ConsolidatedPlan was funded by the COPC and the City ofCortland.

This Consolidated Plan was developed inaccordance with the Code of Federal Regulationsregarding a Consolidated Plan for Governments.As a non-entitlement community in the federalSmall Cities Community Development Block GrantProgram, neither Cortland County nor any of theindividual County municipalities is required tocomplete a full Consolidated Plan and so one wasnever done. Some not-for-profit and municipalentities, however, have encountered difficulties inseeking federal funding by not having a local Planin place. The nature and scope of a ConsolidatedPlan is one that Cortland community leadersdetermined to be beneficial in its process and,

therefore, the community agreed to itsdevelopment.

The completed Plan is an extensive look atall aspects of the communityʼs housing and non-housing needs. The document will be a valuablereference for future housing-related, economicdevelopment, and infrastructure funding requests.The Plan is not inflexible; it may be revised andamended by the County as necessary and/ordesired.

TDC was hired to coordinate thedevelopment of the Plan. The Plan was developedwith the participation, cooperation, and assistanceof the Cortland County Planning Department, theCOPC Program, and SUNY Cortland, with specialassistance from the Methods of Social Research II(Fall Semester 2001) sociology course students atSUNY Cortland, their professor, Dr. RichardKendrick, and student research assistants SerenaForbes, Casey Greeno, and Cliff Niver. TheMethods of Social Research class researched andcompiled relative demographic information,completed housing conditions surveys throughoutthe County, and interviewed local governmentleaders regarding local non-housing needs.Following the completion of the work by thestudents, TDC compiled al l information,interviewed local stakeholders and housingproviders, prepared a draft document, and, basedon citizen input through community outreach,prepared a final Plan.

A copy of the Consolidated Plan is on fileat TDCʼs offices, in the City of Cortland, and in theSociology Department of SUNY Cortland. If anyagency wishes to review its contents or needs toreference the document, they are encouraged tocontact us.

9

WELCOME MATT!

Matt Gross joined our TDC team in July of this year as Rehabilitation Assistant. He is a CortlandHigh School graduate. Matt served in the U. S. Marine Corps as a rifleman. After the military, he wasemployed in the building trades, working for both small local contractors and for a civil engineering firminvolved in the construction of large commercial projects.

At TDC, Matt is responsible for home inspections and assists the rehabilitation managers in ourvarious communities that are involved with CDBG and HOME Program housing rehabilitation projects.Eventually he will be responsible for his own assigned communities, as Matt has proven himself an ableassistant and quite capable of handling his own projects.

Matt lives in Marietta with his wife, MaryAnn. They are expecting their first child in April. We wishMatt all the best in his new role in our company and hope he spends many happy years here.

HAPPY ANN-IVERSARY!

Ann Hotchkin, Program Manager, is celebrating her 15th anniversary with TDC. Ann joined our staffin December of 1987. She is the sixth person on our staff of 14 to surpass 15 years with the company.

As Program Manager on our grant writing team, Ann has written numerous successful grantapplications and has been a part of many other community development projects for our municipal andprivate customers. She has also managed the City of Cortlandʼs beautification program since she beganworking with TDC. Her other responsibilities include oversight of Fair Housing requirements for ourcustomers and the completion of required environmental reviews.

Ann lives in Cortlandville with her husband, Ed. Their daughter, Erin, is a graduate student atBinghamton University and their son, Brian, is a freshman at SUNY Oswego.

10

THOMA HIRES PLANNER

Lisa (Rosas) Foley joined our TDC Staffin March as Program Manager. Lisa was mostrecently the Director of Operations for AuroraPlastics in Conklin, New York, a sustainabledevelopment company involved primarily with therecycling of industrial plastics, a company shehelped to found. She also has an extensivebackground in solid waste management, planningand economic development, grant writing,community development, and research. She waspreviously on staff at the Broome CountyDepartment of Planning and EconomicDevelopment and in the CommunityDevelopment Office for the City of Norwich.

Lisa holds dual degrees from Penn StateUniversity: a BA in political science and a BS incommunity development with a minor ineconomic development planning. She is eligible

to sit for the American Institute of CertifiedPlanners examination.

Lisaʼs present assignments at TDCinclude her work as Program Manager on ourgrant writing team for our Cayuga Countycustomers and for Family Counseling Services ofCortland County, Inc. Lisa is presently training tomanage our new ArcView Geographic InformationSystem (GIS) software.

At home, Lisa is mom to Laura, afreshman at Broome Community College andErica, a freshman at Cortland High School.

Bernie states that the addition of LisaFoley to the staff brings a new dimension to theservices available to our customer base andallows the company to expand its scope of workto include more planning based projects.

WE NOW HAVE VOICE MAIL

TDC just installed a company voice mail system. When you call our office, a member of our staffwill still greet you. If, however, one of us is on the telephone or not at our desk, you will have the option ofleaving a voice message and you will be asked by the person answering the phone if you wish to do so.Although you have always been able to leave a message after business hours, you now can leave amessage for a specific staff member in their voice mailbox. Listed below is our mailbox numbers that willhelp when you place a call after hours:

Tim Alger 15 Matt Gross 25Linda Armstrong 13 Ann Hotchkin 18Tina Casterline 23 Annette Huskins 14Phil Connery 20 Pam LeFever 17Rich Cunningham 12 Peggy Strauf 10Lisa Foley 24 Bernie Thoma 11Bethann Gray 21 Melanie Tickner 16