Yamhill economic development committee seeks members, eyes regional Main Street hub and downtown projects

The Yamhill Economic Development Committee on May 6 agreed to intensify recruitment to fill its membership, discussed joining a regional Oregon Main Street “hub” with nearby towns and mapped next steps on downtown beautification, business outreach and pending code amendments.

The committee, which operates under a council resolution that currently specifies eight seats, said it needs seven voting members plus one nonvoting advisory member and is looking for a downtown business owner, an at‑large member and a planning commission representative. Angie (staff member) confirmed applications are available online and must be approved by the city council before new appointees take seats.

The membership gap matters because the committee’s enabling resolution (Resolution R‑827) lists specific voting roles—previously naming the city administrator and public works manager among others—that committee members said should be revised to say “city representative” and to make some staff roles advisory or “as needed” so those staff are not expected to attend every meeting. Committee members asked staff to draft edits to R‑827 for council consideration.

Committee members also reviewed recruitment constraints: planning commission members must live inside the city limits; historically the council allowed one member who lives outside city limits but inside ZIP code 97148, and the planning commission currently has three seated members of five, leaving two vacancies that the committee hopes to fill.

The group heard a presentation about a regional “rural hub” model from Oregon Main Street that would pool resources among small Yamhill County towns including Amity, Dayton, Carlton and others. Sherry Stewart of Oregon Main Street and partnering organizations discussed a shared position to help with grant writing and program administration; the Ford Family Foundation and regional partners including COG and Sedcor have expressed interest in supporting the model. Committee members agreed to attend a planned in‑person meeting, likely in Dayton, to determine participation and next steps.

On local projects, the committee reviewed the downtown walkabout findings and discussed “light, quick, cheap” projects such as flower pots, cleaning vacant lots and small storefront improvements to demonstrate progress while longer efforts proceed. Members emphasized gathering current business contact information before outreach: staff reported a working list of roughly 23 business addresses in city records but said additional verification is needed before any formal outreach or surveys.

Committee members were told the city holds a DLCD‑funded planning grant that has funded downtown code amendments. The planning commission will hold a hearing on those amendments at 6:30 p.m. on June 19; adoption by the city council is expected in June and, according to the committee, the amendments would go into effect about 30 days after council adoption.

Decisions and next steps from the meeting included approving the prior meeting minutes, directing staff to provide recruitment applications and draft resolution edits for council review, and scheduling the committee’s next meeting for June 3. The committee also asked staff to circulate the Oregon Main Street hub materials and to plan representation for the in‑person hub meeting.

The committee adjourned after the items were discussed. No formal changes to the resolution or final commitments to the regional hub were made at the meeting; those items require council approval or future committee action.