Village Design Group waits for funding

Last year at this time, the Ramona Village Design Group was in full swing, meeting with consultant Howard Blackson and preparing for a three-day design workshop that would produce plans to transform Main Street and highlight Ramona’s town character.

The ambitious conceptual plans from that workshop are now sitting, and the design group members are struggling for ideas to stay active until the group receives a major component: money.

Barely a handful of members attended the July 15 meeting and informally discussed happenings in the community. Group Chair Rob Lewallen said the group is in limbo until it hears about the Caltrans (California Department of Transportation) grant for which it applied.

Blackson, of Placemakers, was hired last year with $50,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant money that was administered by the county for Phase II design plans. By November 2009, the money was spent and since then the village design group has been looking for additional funding.

In March the group submitted an application for a $150,000 grant through Caltrans. Lewallen said the group will probably have to wait a couple more months before hearing anything about the grant money.