A $15,000 Smart Growth Grant from the National Association of Realtors recently was awarded to the Borough of Lehighton. The grant is funding a study focusing on revitalizing the downtown business district in the borough.

The study is being sponsored by the Carbon County Association of Realtors, working with the borough.As part of the project, consultants Doug Loescher, City Strategies Group, and Teresa Lynch, senior program officer with the National Trust Main Street Center, will provide a written report on their findings in approximately six weeks.The project officially began on Tuesday with core stakeholder representatives and consultants taking a walking tour of downtown Lehighton, followed by a meeting with community leaders, business and property owners, educators and religious leaders and civic groups.Also attending the session were state Rep. Doyle Heffley, Bill Richards, representing Sen. John Yudichak, and Wayne Nothstein and William O'Gurek, Carbon County commissioners.The grant funds were officially presented on Wednesday to members of the Carbon County Association of Realtors and Lehighton Borough officials Grant Hunsicker, Lehighton council president; and Scott Rehrig, vice president of Lehighton Council.Also attending the two days of meetings and the check presentation ceremony were Holly Moskerintz of the National Association of Realtors, Washington D.C.; and Jennifer Shackley of the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, who showed a great deal of interest in revitalizing downtown Lehighton.Moskerintz said that the Smart Growth Grant was one of three community outreach grants that are awarded four times a year to several struggling communities across the United States. Other grants that are available focus on diversity and affordable workforce housing.Since Moskerintz is formerly of Jim Thorpe, she said she was pleased to be the person selected to visit with Lehighton leaders and be part of the revitalization process.The grant was initiated by Kathy Henderson, association executive, for the Carbon County Association of Realtors. She said she worked closely with Nicole Beckett, Lehighton borough manager, who assisted in preparing the grant application. Henderson said that Shackley assisted with reviewing the application before submitting it for approval."I couldn't have done it without Nicole," said Henderson. "She was a great help with helping prepare the grant."Henderson said that she and Beckett walked the downtown area several times before submitting the application for the grant. Henderson was also pleased to hear that Lehighton could apply for additional grant funding for the other two grants which focus on affordable workforce housing and diversity.Henderson said she read about the grants in a NAR publication and after discussing applying for the funding with the Carbon County Association of Realtors and the Borough of Lehighton, she began working on the grant application with Beckett.Following the presentation of the grant funds, a brief meeting was held in the Carbon County Association of Realtors office on First Street. Attending were Moskerintz and Shackley, Rehrig and Hunsicker, Henderson and Jim Zurn, president of the CCAR.Zurn commended both Hunsicker and Rehrig for the role they play in the infrastructure of Lehighton. He also commended them for hiring a code enforcement officer who will play a huge role in ridding the town of blighted properties."We're asking for the public's support and for volunteers," said Rehrig. "We need people to attend borough council meetings and we need volunteers. No idea is a bad idea.""The end result will be revitalization of First Street in Lehighton," said Moskerintz. She added that there was no reason the town could not be improved.She suggested signage that brings people from the bypass to downtown Lehighton and possibly planting shrubs and trees at the entrance into the borough and on First Street to improve the ambience as short term goals.Zurn said that somehow Jim Thorpe and Palmerton have managed to become viable communities."Up until now, Lehighton has missed out," said Zurn. "Lehighton is the second most desirable community to live in, only second to Palmerton. Lehighton could be so much more."Zurn said one approach is to have more businesses fix up their properties."I like to have something in place that would say we're here to help you do this, but if you don't want to do this we'll throw the book at you," said Zurn.Henderson added that she views Lehighton as a possible artist community."I would love to see an artist's renderings of how the buildings could look following revitalization," she said.By the second day of the visit of the National Main Street Center to Lehighton, the consultants gave an initial report on revitalizing the downtown business district.Doug Loescher, civic strategies group, said that an in-depth report will be forwarded to borough officials and CCAR within six weeks."In general, one thing became clear," said Loescher. "The people are looking for significant changes. I believe changes are possible only with long-term management initiative."Loescher said that groups are already forming that can host larger initiatives."They are not looking to simply beautify the area," he said. "They are looking at how to integrate the riverfronts along with revitalizing First and Second streets, creating new businesses and assisting present businesses with marketing promotions that will affect the entire downtown area."While Loescher and Lynch were only in town for a few days, Loescher said he believes they have developed a feel for organizing and targeting improvements to the core of downtown and offering potential sources for funding and grants that will provide funding to integrate the riverfront with the downtown area.