A Waynesboro project that has been on hold for years may soon be getting the funding it needs.

Waynesboro business owner Bill Mikolay has been waiting since 2007 to see the city complete its Streetscape project.

Mikolay says, "There are two parts to downtown. One that is new, one that is old."

Phase one of the project improved sidewalks, stoplights and curbs on Main Street from Wayne to Arch avenues.

Mikolay says it is time for the second phase, which will run to Church Street, to be completed.

He adds, "If I was a new business that was trying to move to downtown and I saw that the city's commitment to downtown was half done, there is going to be a lot of vacancies out there."

Mikolay's request could soon be answered. The city council unanimously expressed interest in applying for a federal grant to pay for phase two.

Council member Lorie Smith says, "This grant is extremely important to us in this phase, given the economic downturn that we have had with reduction in revenues."

The price tag for the second phase is around $500,000. The city would need to put up around $100,000 with the grant matching the rest.

Without the grant, Smith says prioritizing the project would be difficult at this time.

Smith adds, "I think one of the benefits we will have in the grant pool is that we have half of the Streetscape completed."

However, business owners like Mikolay are not completely convinced this will get the project underway and completed anytime soon.

Mikolay says, "Grant money is always good, but grant money always seems to take years and years to materialize."

The city council held a public hearing Monday to get input on the grant application. It plans on making the official vote to apply sometime in early December.