To Geneseo
I became the City Administrator for Geneseo on August 26, 2019 and am truly honored to be able to serve my community. The hardest part of this job is to seek funds for projects we simply cannot afford without the help from our businesses and community residents. Therefore, I ask for your help now.
The City of Geneseo recently received notification of a successful Grant application known as the OSLAD Grant in the amount of $400,000. The Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) Program is a state-financed grant program that provides funding assistance to local government agencies for acquisition and/or development of land for public parks and open space and is highly competitive. The grant was applied for in order to improve and update the Richmond Hill Park. The Richmond Hill Park project hopes to include a new children’s playground, a new park shelter, two basketball courts (college and high school dimensions), pickleball courts and baggo courts as well as a new parking area. We have been working with Hitchock Design Group to establish parameters and conceptual drawings are available for viewing in my office. In order to accomplish all our goals, we will need funding in the amount of $1,225,000.00. The council and Mayor decided early in the project that the City will commit $200,000 to the project. This coupled with the $400,000 grant brings us to ½ the cost of the project. Additionally, the City of Geneseo has received a grant from the Geneseo Community Foundation for up to $200,000. The Geneseo Community Foundation Grant will provide us with a dollar match for every dollar donated up to $200,000. This would bring us to $1,000,000. We have applied for a $25,000 grant from Senator Weaver’s office also. That would still leave us $200,000 short of our goal. Therefore, if we are unable to come up with additional funding, we will have to cut some or all of the following items: basketball courts, pickleball courts and a new parking area.
SO, HERE’S MY ASK…WILL YOU HELP US MEET OUR GOAL?
My first challenge is to raise the $200,000 that we need to reach our full match of $200,000 from the Geneseo Community Foundation. We will recognize all our donors and we may also have naming opportunities if that interests you! If you are unable to help us financially but have ideas of how to fund raise I’d be happy to hear from you! We need to move quickly and have our major contributions in place by September 24 which is the bid opening date and it is at that time that council will need to make fiscally responsible decisions regarding what can and cannot be done.
We’re hoping to make this a project for our children and our children’s children. No donation is too small. There are many ways to donate:
- Call City Hall @ 309-944-6419 and Donate over the phone
- Call City Hall @309-944-6419 and donate by credit card
- Drop off or mail a check to City Hall
- Donate to PayPal Account on cityofgeneseo.com
- Donate at Central Bank in an Account For Richmond Hill Park Project
If you’d like more information about the project, please contact me at 309-944-6419. If you’d like to meet with me in person to discuss the project, I would welcome the opportunity! Thank you for consideration of my request!
“Life Must Be Lived As Play” – Plato
Respectfully,
JoAnn Hollenkamp
City Administrator