Rockville Downtown Association Asks For Funding

The Rockville Downtown Association is asking for funding and Vernon Mayor Jason McCoy may just have found an unusual revenue source for at least some of its request.

The downtown association is a nonprofit organization that promotes economic and community development in Rockville. One of its current projects is refurbishing the area around Hockanum Falls, a landmark that represents the town rich textile manufacturing history. 

Currently, the RDA has a token line item in the municipal budget totaling $1. That has been reduced to zero in Mayor McCoy's proposed $79.3 million budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year.

The RDA formally asked for $14,550 in the budget during the Town Council's deliberation session on Saturday. The RDA's operating budget is $42,585, according to Executive Director Cliff Edwards.

The RDA's staff includes a part-time executive director and a part-time executive assistant, Edwards said.

Edwards has embarked on an extensive lobbying campaign, and on Saturday he was not shy about stating his case.

''The RDA has submitted a request and that request is being ignored," Edwards said. ''The question is, how many Vernon residents are serviced by the organization?''

Several residents and business executives spoke on the RDA's behalf. Comments ranged from, ''Is the RDA worth a buck?'' to, ''The town has gotten better'' in the 11 years since the organization was founded.

Even Rockville Bank President William McGurk chimed in, submitting a letter to the council.

McGurk said that not funding the RDA would be like ''turning your backs on downtown, the seat of government and a piece of history.''

McCoy said some money could be available. It was recently discovered that the town had been paying for an obsolete pseudo-emergency phone line left over from the 203 area code days that is no longer needed to the tune of $7,000 per year but is already budgeted.

Would $7,000 help?

''Anything is better than zero,'' Edwards said.

The council will make the final decision at meeting prior to the April 26 annual budget meeting.