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Main Street Perry wins national accreditation and asks council to double city funding to $40,000
Summary
Main Street Perry reported national accreditation, volunteer and downtown investment figures and asked the council to increase its annual city funding from $20,000 to $40,000 to expand programs and grants for downtown rehabilitation and housing incentives.
Main Street Perry told the City Council on April 21 that it recently regained national accreditation with Main Street America and presented year‑to‑date statistics, private reinvestment figures and program plans while asking the council to consider increasing the city—s annual contribution from $20,000 to $40,000.
The presenter, Laura (Main Street director), said the accreditation restores access to national training and grants. "With that national accreditation we are able to do more things with our organization that we weren't able to. We can host trainings in our community that we weren't able to do before and then there's lots of grants that are only national accredited organizations are able to receive," Laura said during the council meeting.
Main Street shared several recent and planned activities: facade program support, a downtown speaker installation, design assistance available up to $2,000 per project through a Tulsa‑based Method Group partnership, and a new database tool (BoomStracker) to catalogue buildings and assess second‑story housing potential. The director said Main Street documented 629 volunteer hours in the last year, 18 building rehabilitations, 13 new or expanded downtown businesses and $762,000 in private reinvestment in 2024.
Main Street officials asked the council to consider a funding increase during the upcoming budget cycle; the presenter said the Main Street contract renews in July and offered to return with a formal proposal and line‑item plan for the requested $40,000 allocation.
Ending: Councilors praised the Main Street report and asked staff to include the request for consideration in the city—s budget discussions; Main Street will provide a formal proposal in advance of the July contract renewal.
