AUBURN – Work on a stairway connecting Court Street to the Auburn Riverwalk should move ahead this spring, paid for with federal block grant money.

The city will take $161,300 from two other projects that were being paid with Community Development Block Grant money to finish work on the Riverpark Project. Councilors agreed to the project but urged staff to make sure the CDBG money is used to fix city sidewalks.

“I think it’s great to have different recreation opportunities in both cities,” said Councilor Ellen Peters. She’s fine with using block grant money to pay for work on an Androscoggin River walking path through downtown.

“But people need to be able to walk there, and that’s where the sidewalks come in,” she said.

Auburn receives federal CDBG money to pay for social service agencies, building affordable housing and paying for community amenities such as Festival Plaza and Bonney Park. It also uses the money for economic development in the form of business loans.

Community Development Coordinator Reine Mynahan said the city had planned to spend $76,300 of a block grant on a Union Street skate park but put the plan aside when Lewiston’s downtown skate park debuted.

Another $125,000 in block grant money had been set aside to help build a daycare center. That money was a small part of the project’s overall budget, and Mynahan said the project is not moving forward. She suggested using $85,000 from the daycare and the money from the skate park to pay for the Riverwalk work.

Some residents balked, saying the city had other uses for that money.

“CDBG money is designed to help low income residents,” said Brian Demers of 1085 Riverside Drive. “I don’t believe they’ll be helped by a riverfront and sidewalk and that piece of grass.”

But City Manager Pat Finnigan said block grant money has been a part of the Riverpark project all along. It’s home to Gritty McDuff’s Brew Pub, Festival Plaza and shops now but it wasn’t always nice.

“People forget that this block was blighted,” she said.

Councilors also said they wanted to keep some oversight of minor block grant budget changes. They were considering a change in the city rules that would let Finnigan approve block grant funding changes of $110,000 or less. Those changes must be advertised for 30 days and voted on by the council under current rule.

Councilors said they wanted to reserve decisions for themselves, but they agreed to shorten the notice from 30 days to two weeks.

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