Graham’s city council has voted 4-1 to redirect approximately $338,000 in remaining proceeds that had been included in the previous state budget to replace waterlines and decorative planters in the city’s downtown historic business district.
Mayor Chelsea Dickey voted against, urging the council to use a portion of the remaining grant funds to also install wayfinding signage.
In 2023, the city received a $600,000 “directed grant” for downtown enhancements that had been secured by state senator Amy Galey, whose district includes Alamance County and part of Randolph County. The grant was originally set to expire on June 30 of this year; the deadline to expend the remaining proceeds has since been extended by an additional year, through the end of June 2027, as part of a bill that Gov. Josh Stein signed on April 30 of this year, Galey announced at the time.
The council ultimately agreed last week to purchase new planters for the downtown business district, at a cost “not to exceed” $40,000, due to existing planters having rusted, based on Dickey’s description.
But the council majority – mayor pro tem Ricky Hall and council members Bobby Chin, Jim Young, and Bonnie Whitaker – bucked Dickey’s suggestion to use part of the remaining proceeds to purchase wayfinding signage and use another pot of state funding for the waterline replacements.
“I met with [state representative] Dennis Riddell, and there is another pot of money sitting there waiting for us to put in an application,” the mayor told the council last week. “[The city’s utilities department is] trying to figure out what we want to apply for. So we’ve got another pot of money we can dip into…I agree our water lines are in desperate need of repair, and we do need to prioritize those.
“Those funding mechanisms are a little bit easier to come by than grant sources that will allow us to get wayfinding and planters,” Dickey said in pressing the council to set aside another $40,000 in remaining grant proceeds for the wayfinding signage. I just want to make sure we’re using the pots of money where we can strategically.”
“But we don’t have it secured, right?” Whitaker asked Dickey.
“Correct,” the mayor responded. “It’s up to $1 million we have to put in,” she said, apparently referring to a required local match for the funding that Dickey said she’d discussed with Riddell. “He said the soonest we can get it done, the better,” she added.
Chin said, “So it’s not really guaranteed,” asking the city manager whether the council could designate the remaining proceeds from the 2023 downtown enhancement grant for the waterline replacements. “And if we do get the [new] grant, we can reallocate that money,” he said last week.
Young added, “If the money Dennis Riddell mentioned is not guaranteed, even if we did get it, it would move than likely go for something else.”
Graham city manager Megan Garner told the council that the funds referenced by Riddell have been earmarked for “eight or nine counties impacted by Tropical Storm Chantal” in July 2025.
“It’s not just for Graham or Alamance County,” Garner said. “There is a process, and it’s first-come, first-serve, as long as you meet the eligibility and you’re approved.” Any grant funds awarded for damage from Chantal would likely be for “something that the insurance wouldn’t cover, that [the Federal Emergency Management Association] wouldn’t give us a reimbursement for,” she told the council.
The council previously voted earlier this year to allocate $84,000 in proceeds from that grant to purchase “rectangular rapid flashing beacons” to improve safety at pedestrian crosswalks around Court Square.
While Dickey said she’d heard from business owners, such as the woman who owns Gelah Couture along North Main Street, who she said would benefit from increased visibility that wayfinding signage could provide.
Frank’s Jewelry [and] Silé Tea Room along North Main Street were two examples of out-of-the-way businesses that Dickey pointed to, saying, “You don’t know they’re there unless there’s a way to find them.”
Chin countered, “Given that our media person is planning to highlight businesses downtown, I think that’d give more visibility than spending $40,000 on the wayfinding signs. More folks go to the website.”
Young agreed, saying that he could find no proof that wayfinding signs would boost downtown business’ bottom lines.
“Even Main Street America can’t say that wayfinding signs help anybody,” Young said. “You know we’re less than a mile from the interstate, and there’s no proof visitors can’t find their way without looking at little arrow signs. For Graham, the wayfinding signs might be a bit of waste. Yeah, I think the planters need to be replaced…I think there’s other ways we could advertise that would be more effective than a wayfinding sign.”
The council subsequently voted 4-1, with Dickey opposed, to use the remaining $338,000 in proceeds from the 2023 directed grant to replace downtown waterlines. There was no indication of the total cost, or a timeframe to begin and complete the work.
