GRANBY — A $35,000 state grant to help fund the construction of a veterans memorial in the center of town has been put on hold.
The nonprofit Friends of Granby Veterans Inc. received a notice at the end of October from the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services that the grant had been suspended.
“For us, at this point in time, we don’t have the money and there is no answer to when and if we are going to get it,” said Mike Pandora, president of the nonprofit. “There is certainly the possibility that we could receive the money but at this point in time everything is frozen.”
The Veterans’ Services Department said it was forced to reassess available funding for earmarked contracts due to recent spending reductions, according to a letter sent to Friends of Granby Veterans. The contract will remain suspended through June 30, 2017, the letter stated.
Pandora said he was devastated to read the letter, given that the Granby Veterans Memorial Committee has been working on the memorial for four years and the Friends of Granby Veterans has been raising funds for the last three.
The nonprofit has already raised a little more than $100,000 for the $200,000 project, and has secured around $70,000 in donated materials and work, according to Pandora. The memorial is slated to be constructed on an elevated site located on the corner of State and North streets.
“We’re just at the point where final drawings and plans are getting ready for permits,” Pandora said. “This will certainly put a damper on some things.”
Pandora is not alone. Jason Richard said he was very disappointed when he found out about the grant. Richard is the chairman of the town’s Veterans Memorial Committee and a member of the Friends of Granby Veterans.
“I kind of saw it coming,” he said. “We all know how the state budget works.”
The group is still hopeful, though, that the money may come through, according to Richard.
“We are still in contact with all of the separate offices we worked with to get the grant, especially Sen. Eric Lesser,” he said. “From what we’ve been told, it’s not totally gone yet — there is a chance funds could be reallocated.”
Pandora is hopeful the money will come through but said the organizations need to get proactive in case it doesn’t.
“We want to go forward on this project. We’re anxious to get it done,” he said. “It’s already been a long time. We don’t want to get it delayed because we’re short on funds.”
The grant would close the final gap and pay for the memorial’s lettering, service medallions and the plaques with names on them, Pandora explained.
In September, Lesser, D-East Longmeadow, announced the $35,000 state grant with state Rep. John W. Scibak, D-South Hadley. The two are still following the earmark.
“This is a very, very important project,” Lesser said. “It a small amount of money but it means a tremendous deal.”
The senator said he would do everything in his power to advocate for the funds and keep a “laser focus” on the earmark.
Lesser said he and Scibak have spoken to the state Department of Veterans’ Services about the funds.
“We see this happen with a lot of projects out of abundance of caution,” he said.
Lesser said it was his hope and expectation that once the administration has done its due diligence, the funds will be released.
Scibak said he is also hopeful that revenues would pick up and the earmarks that have been approved in the budget, signed by the governor and approved by Legislature will be fully funded.
“If they are not all capable of being funded, I’m certainly willing to work with Senator Lesser, Representative (Ellen) Story and her successor, in terms of assuring the funding does in fact happen,” Scibak said.
Scibak added he was “optimistic” about the project’s future.
“I don’t want the people in Granby, who have worked so hard on it, to become disillusioned,” Scibak said. “We are making our full commitment to do what we can to make sure the $35,000 gets to the Friends of Granby Veterans.”
More information about the memorial can be found at www.granbyveteransmemorial.org/
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.