Mayor highlights community vision, arena planning, tourism activity and subscription grant‑finder in report to council

City staff and the mayor presented an update on a draft community vision and several ongoing local projects, including arena planning, tourism promotion and a proposed subscription service to locate grant opportunities.

Roger (city economic development/staff) told the council he has been working on the community vision and outreach with Dr. Bailey, the Chamber of Commerce and regional partners. Roger said he will circulate the current draft of the vision plan to council members for review and input.

The mayor and staff described multiple tourism events and attendance figures: the recently open municipal pool recorded more than 10,000 visits in a short season with roughly 4,400 unique visitors; a concert (Eli Young) drew about 1,800 individual visitors or 1,900 visits. Staff also briefed the council on Woods County fair, nightlife concerts and cruise nights, noting those events performed well for local lodging and fuel sales along the corridor into Alba.

On arena planning, a council member reported that Mr. Holder requested a small group of council members and staff take a tour of the arena to inform visioning work. Staff suggested establishing a Transportation Improvement Financing (TIF) district and coordinating the comprehensive plan and zoning around the arena project to leverage development opportunities.

Staff presented a proposed subscription to Quillify, an automated service that searches federal, state and foundation grant opportunities. The service was described as a subscription of about $200 per month; staff said Quillify can provide lists of opportunities and offer an AI‑assisted grant drafting tool for an additional fee. The council indicated the contract for the subscription will be placed on next month’s agenda for formal approval.

Other staff reports included: - Library: fall programming, a “Chocolate Fantasy” event Nov. 13 and the Friends of the Library coffee bar aiding some collections work; the library noted an eventual need to replace a nacine unit (exact model/cost not specified). - Airport: routine projects are wrapping up and future work is planned as funding allows; airfield fueling and traffic coordination were mentioned. - Recreation: ball sports ongoing, pool winterized and scheduled bathhouse and tile work to be completed from the original project scope with no additional cost. - Finance: Dr. Lauer reported cash and investment balances as of Sept. 30: cash accounts totaling $1,249,000 and investment accounts totaling $2,900,000; of the cash, approximately $1,000,000 was pooled cash, $159,000 in capital/equipment savings and about $78,000 in checking/ARPA cash account.

The mayor’s report also included outreach efforts at retail industry conferences (ICSC events) to recruit retailers and foster regional collaboration. Staff said they had preliminary retail leads and are preparing a city tourism video and photography to be used in the community vision and promotional materials.

Council members asked follow‑up questions about start dates and timelines for the ODOT highway project; staff responded that project delays have occurred because of weather and undocumented water lines and that work will include storm water drainage, 9 inches of concrete with a 3‑inch asphalt overlay and a sidewalk on the west side of the highway. Staff noted sewer and water relocations tied to the project are near completion.

No formal council action was taken on the arena planning, the Quillify subscription or the highway project during this portion of the meeting; staff indicated items will return for formal consideration where required.