Land Revitalization Technical Assistance | EPA #560-F22-289 December 2022 Planning for Sustainable Brownfield Redevelopment SMALL RURAL COMMUNITY COACHING - BAYARD, NEBRASKA AND CANEY, KANSAS PROJECT DESCRIPTION • Communities: Bayard, Nebraska and Caney, Kansas • EPA Regional Lead: David Doyle, doyle.david@epa.gov • Technical Assistance: Coached two small rural communities on the brownfields revitalization process, which helped the communities each identify opportunities and constraints for redeveloping their downtowns. PROJECT BACKGROUND Many of the buildings along the downtown corridors in Bayard, NE and Caney, KS are in poor condition after years of neglect. Several of the buildings have environmental conditions present, which is often a barrier to community revitalization. Many buildings will also require expensive restoration. These conditions have led to a lack of investment in businesses and downtown amenities, There is little to attract community members and visitors to downtown. PROJECT CHALLENGES The communities of Bayard and Caney are each focused on addressing the brownfield sites in their downtown corridors. The communities each want to create vibrant downtown areas that will help bring business and commerce back to the areas. Since resources for environmental remediation and building restoration are especially difficult to access in small and rural towns, the communities needed assistance with short- and long-term planning that would help them reposition brownfields sites for success, They needed coaching to understand how to move the sites through the brownfield revitalization process, EPA'S TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE EPA's Land Revitalization team supported the Cities of Bayard, Nebraska and Caney, Kansas by: • Introducing the two communities so they could share challenges and strategies, • Holding a series of coaching sessions designed to educate the communities about the brownfields redevelopment process, • Working with the cities to recognize and identify community concerns, needs, constraints and opportunities..The needs assessment focused on developing a site inventory, conducting community engagement, information collection, and developing project goals. • Using the needs assessment and a market assessment to help each community develop a community investment strategy to reposition brownfields within the downtown corridor for redevelopment, • Encouraging the cities to apply for and leverage additional resources, including the EPA Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) program at Kansas State University. • Delivering a final coaching session presentation that the cities can use to engage city leaders and other brownfield stakeholders. NEXT STEPS FOR CONSIDERATION • Continue to develop and support stakeholder participation on an advisory group or stakeholder committee to promote revitalization. • Complete and utilize the community investment strategy, • Develop a downtown vision plan that incorporates the community's needs and concerns, environmental condition analysis, land use assessment, infrastructure assessment, available area that can be developed, and project goals. • Apply for additional available funding and resources, including EPA's TAB program for additional brownfields support and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program funding for sidewalks, curbs, and gutter improvements, Figure 1: Downtown Bayard, Nebraska ------- |