Council accepts Downtown Eau Claire Incorporated—annual report; DECI seeks continued $85,000 city support
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Summary
Council accepted DECI's 2025 annual report and discussed the organization—'s role coordinating downtown events, grants and business support. DECI requested continued city funding at $85,000 to maintain programs and staff capacity.
The Eau Claire City Council voted unanimously July 26 to accept the 2025 annual report from Downtown Eau Claire Incorporated (DECI), which detailed the nonprofit—organization———————————————————————————————activities and the public funds it administers on the city———————————————————————behalf of the City of Eau Claire.
Deputy City Manager Dave Solberg introduced DECI Executive Director Aaron Klaus and DECI staff member Matt Pabich, who presented the group's highlights, including event coordination, public-private partnership work during downtown construction, and grant administration for streetscape and public-art projects.
Klaus said DECI's current operating budget is $269,000 and the organization employs 1.75 full-time equivalent staff. He told council that DECI leverages a modest municipal investment to secure private sponsorships, manage grants and coordinate business outreach and communications. "With a continued modest investment at the $85,000, which is really the cost of one full-time city staff person, DECI provides a broader reach, added flexibility and focused expertise that's rooted in our downtown businesses and stakeholders," Klaus said.
Klaus walked council through examples of downtown projects DECI helped coordinate, including communications and parking accommodations during the North Barstow construction project, the Adopt-a-Planter beautification program (which grew from a $2,000 downtown enhancement grant to a 37-planter district program), and the North Barstow Beautification Grant program, which he said has distributed about $45,000 over three years for murals and facades. He said these programs are funded through a mix of business improvement district (BID) funds, grants, sponsorships and DECI operations.
Klaus also said DECI is pursuing Wisconsin Main Street accreditation and has been accepted into a cohort; if successful, the program would make additional educational resources and municipal grant opportunities available to the city and downtown stakeholders. "On average a Main Street-accredited downtown organization receives about $15,000 worth of value from Main Street on an annual basis," Klaus said in response to a council question.
Council members thanked DECI for its work and noted the organization—'s role in promoting downtown tourism and small-business support. Councilor Mboga moved acceptance of the report; Vice President Worthman seconded. The roll-call vote was unanimous.
The council did not act on additional funding at the meeting; Klaus's presentation functioned as DECI's required annual presentation under its contract with the city, and council members indicated they would consider the request as part of the city's budget and contracting process.
