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Going to school on grants

JULIE LANE PHOTO Shelter Island’s new grant writer, Jennifer Mesiano Higham of Mesiano Consulting met with department chiefs Monday morning to listen to their ideas and provide an overview of what’s probable, possible and unlikely.
JULIE LANE PHOTO | Shelter Island’s new grant writer, Jennifer Mesiano Higham, met with department chiefs Monday morning to listen to their ideas and provide an overview of what’s probable, possible and unlikely.

With a New York State-imposed tax cap for municipalities, finding funds for necessary projects and services has forced Shelter Island to up its game in securing government grants.

One strategy the Town Board has developed is to return to a method it employed in the past — hiring a professional to discover what money is available and bring it to the Island.

The board and town department chiefs met its new grant writer, Jennifer Mesiano Higham, who operates Mesiano Consulting serving Long Island and the upstate capital region, at a public meeting Monday morning at Town Hall. In her presentation, Ms. Mesiano Higham gave them a realistic view of what they could expect and what would be unrealistic in meeting funding needs.

She said that most grants require municipalities to lay out money and await reimbursement. That’s a challenge for Shelter Island and one that will require careful balancing of which grants to pursue.

Not surprising to the Town Board, many grants require some matching funds — whether it’s a 50-50 match or, more typically, a 75-25 match with the town putting up the lesser amount.

While encouraging department heads to take their inquiries directly to Ms. Mesiano Higham, Supervisor Jim Dougherty made it clear that all applications will have to be vetted by the Town Board before submission. This is to ensure there’s town money to either spend in advance and/or there is a responsibility for the town to match funds granted.

One thing is certain. “We have a lot of needs,” Mr. Dougherty said.

Among them were questions about the availability of money for water quality and septic system improvements, deer management and radio communication systems for emergency responders.

That the Island has committed to a three-year study of its water quality is “the beginning of a very persuasive argument” for potential funding in the future, Ms. Mesiano Higham said.

Shared projects among municipalities are popular with those providing grants and that’s a plus Ms. Mesiano Higham brings since she works with a number of East End municipalities.

One problem that exists on the Island has been the difficulty of the town government and the Heights Property Owners Corporation sharing on grant-funded projects because the HPOC is a private community.

That’s a factor HPOC General Manager Stella Lagudis has raised in the past.

But Ms. Mesiano Higham said not all grants prohibit a public-private partnership.

That insight opened the door to a question from Councilman Peter Reich about whether there might be funding for an engineering study of how to save Reel Point, partially owned by the town and partially by the Peconic Land Trust.

It’s something that could be looked at, Ms. Mesiano Higham said, but added that more grant money is available for construction projects than engineering studies.

Councilman Paul Shepherd noted that more money seems to be available for “cleaning up a mess than preventing it.” Funds could be found for Superstorm Sandy cleanup, but not for projects that could have kept water from flooding parts of the Island, he added.

There are some grants that repeat every year, Police Chief Jim Read said, explaining that in those cases, he can handle the applications.

Plans call for town officials, including department chiefs, to put together specific projects they would like to see funded by new grants and then prioritize needs.