Latest news with #SITES
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Pioneer Park revitalization will feature year-round farmer's market
SALT LAKE CITY () — In a major step to revitalize downtown, the Downtown Alliance announced a new partnership with the city on Thursday morning, focused on giving Pioneer Park a makeover. Their freshly signed 'Memorandum of Understanding', between the Downtown Alliance and Salt Lake City, aims to breathe new life into Pioneer Park — an area that's long been plagued by low visitation rates — by creating an all-year-round public market building. 'Now, let's be honest. Pioneer Park has a bad reputation,' Dee Brewer, executive director of Downtown Alliance, said at the annual meeting in the Gallivan Center. 'Last year, the average daily park visitation was less than 170 people a day.' The Downtown Alliance saw a solution to this problem in the park's farmers market, which has proven to be a magnet for the community's foot traffic. Pioneer Park will get a facelift in 2025 – Here's what Salt Lake City is adding According to Brewer, 65% of park visits occurred on just 21 days, all of those being when the farmers' market was open. The new public building aims to keep this momentum going all year round. Preliminary plans include a beverage bar, clean restrooms, a large hall, and a community gathering space that would become home to an all-year-round farmer's market, according to Carly Gillespie, director of Urban Food Connections of Utah. 'We want to continue to create social and economic prosperity in the neighborhood and in downtown Salt Lake,' Gillespie said. The Downtown Alliance's proposed building would also provide a permanent space for the Downtown Ambassadors, offering a visible presence in the park to create a stronger sense of safety. Salt Lake City said that the Public Lands Department collected feedback from over 2,800 people and worked with community groups to choose the planned amenities. The park is also seeking a SITES certification — a framework that recognizes sustainability and resilience in design, development, and management. The alliance said in a press release that they are looking to actively conduct public outreach and feasibility assessment throughout this year. A clearer timeline of completion is expected once those steps are finished. 'We look forward to the results of the feasibility study, which the Downtown Alliance will begin leading this summer,' said Blake Thomas, Senior Advisor on Real Estate and Capital Projects. 'This study, along with the efforts our Public Lands team has undertaken, has the potential to transform this park into a year-round destination and serve as a model for public-private partnerships to enhance our City assets.' The project complements the Pioneer Park Vision Plan, which was developed in 2021 to revitalize the area, following the City Council's approval of $3.44 million in 2019. In 2022, $10 million in funding through the City's $67.5 million Sales Tax Bond was approved for the project. In 2024, an additional $.96 million was allocated for the Vision Plan, allowing the city to begin implementation. 'Pioneer Park is a cornerstone of our downtown heritage, and it has long been full of untapped potential,' said Mayor Mendenhall. 'This public-private partnership with the Downtown Alliance paves the way for positive change and increased public safety — while working in concert with the long-planned park improvements Salt Lakers have asked for.' GOP campaign arm tells Republicans to 'go on offense' messaging Trump agenda bill Crimson Cliffs wins 4A soccer title over Dixie, 3-0 Pioneer Park revitalization will feature year-round farmer's market Israeli Embassy suspect charged with murder of a foreign official Bodycam footage released from officer-involved shooting near Lake Powell Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Budget hearings begin begin this week; Here's who's up first
House Appropriations Committee Chairperson Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia) applauds during Gov. Josh Shapiro's budget address Feb. 4, 2025, before a joint session of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. (Commonwealth Media Services photo) The state legislature will have its chance to question Gov. Josh Shapiro's cabinet secretaries on his $51.5 billion budget proposal in a series of hearing starting Tuesday and continuing over the next three weeks. During the hearings, state agency heads flesh out details of the governor's spending priorities, while House and Senate lawmakers grill them on proposed spending hikes or cuts. Economic and Community Development First up before the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday is Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Rick Siger. DCED is the agency charged with fostering growth and innovation in the state's economy while promoting Pennsylvania as a good place to do business and visit. While DCED's $2.3 billion request is an 11% increase over the current budget, Shapiro's messaging highlights the agency's participation in a program to identify areas where state resources are not being used effectively. To that end, DCED will undergo what Shaprio described as a major reorganization to create the Business PA Team to promote the commonwealth as 'the ideal place to do business' and 'boost the overall perception of Pennsylvania' as a state highly ranked for its business-friendly environment. Lawmakers in last year's DCED budget hearing pressed Siger on the efficacy of the agency's business development programs. They are likely to have questions about its new SITES program, which centers on $500 million bonded to prospectively develop industrial sites to attract new businesses to the state. Revenue Tuesday in the Senate, Revenue Secretary Pat Browne will present Shapiro's projections for the coming year's state tax collections and plans for new streams of revenue. They include legalized recreational marijuana and a tax on slot machine-like skill games. The department is responsible for collecting and distributing state taxes, including personal income tax, business taxes and special levies on items like motor fuel. Its budget request is relatively small at $230 million, but ensures every other part of the state government has the resources it needs to deliver services to Pennsylvanians. Can Pennsylvania craft the perfect cannabis law? In past budget presentations, lawmakers have questioned the Shapiro administration's projections and the state's long-term solvency. Republicans have claimed it's vulnerable to a structural deficit as each of Shapiro's budgets has relied on surpluses and reserves to balance spending. The projections also include taxes on products that are currently illegal or untaxed, but that Shapiro would like to see lawmakers regulate. Levies on cannabis and skill games present a need to balance the benefit of new revenue against potential societal ills. But, Shapiro has stressed that a failure to act on the issues will perpetuate a financial drain on the state as skill games, which have popped up in bars and convenience stores across the state, eat into casino and lottery revenue. He notes people are also spending money in neighboring states where recreational marijuana is legal. Higher Education Leaders of two offices responsible for the administration of the state's higher education system, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), which oversees 10 state universities, and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) will also appear Tuesday before the Senate. Last year, Senate Republicans asked questions about Shapiro's proposed merger of the PASSHE universities and Pennsylvania's 15 community colleges under a common governance system. Shapiro has requested over $660 million for the state universities, which includes a $40 million boost to allow PASSHE schools, like Millersville and Shippensburg universities, to keep tuition level for the eighth year in a row. PHEAA oversees state student aid programs. That includes a stipend for student teachers fulfilling their required in-classroom training, which Shapiro is proposing to expand. The spending plan includes $594 million for higher education assistance programs. The House Appropriations Committee will conduct a hearing Wednesday on performance-based funding formulas for State-related universities, which include Penn State University, the University of Pittsburgh and Temple University. Starting last year, the Performance-Based Funding Council, an appointed group of lawmakers and university administrators, has been exploring how to create a formula for funding state-related universities. It will be based on performance metrics like graduation rates and adult education attainment. The budget includes $60 million to be distributed to the universities following the formula. Transportation Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll is set to appear Wednesday before the House Appropriations Committee. With Pennsylvania's largest public transportation agency facing a fiscal cliff last year, Shapiro called for a $283 million increase in transit funding. But rural lawmakers blocked it, noting highways and other forms of transportation also face a yawning chasm between the funding available and growing needs over the next decade. Pa.'s roads would get more gas tax money in next budget, but a highway funding gap remains The legislature's compromise of $80.5 million each for transit and roads and bridges fell short, forcing Shapiro to divert federal funding for highway projects to keep the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority from cutting service late last year. This year, Shapiro is again proposing a $292.5 million hike in transit funding as part of a $11.6 billion overall budget request for PennDOT. Democratic and Republican lawmakers have said they're looking for a sustainable transportation plan that includes a steady revenue stream to keep up with the cost of maintaining the state's road network.
