Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Downtown Revitalization topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Linton commission advances $50,000 facade grant program after revitalization presentation
Summary
The Linton Redevelopment Commission reviewed a draft facade grant policy, agreed to handle application review within the commission, and aimed to start accepting applications Jan. 1. A presentation on small-town revitalization from a recent trip to Wumpka, Alabama informed program design and outreach plans.
The Linton Redevelopment Commission reviewed a draft facade grant program and agreed to move toward launching the initiative, which the commission has preliminarily earmarked $50,000 to fund.
The program framework discussed at the Nov. 24 meeting sets out an application process, review timeline and outreach plan. Commissioners favored handling reviews internally now that they will meet monthly rather than forming a separate review committee, and suggested a roughly 60-day review window to allow for two scheduled meetings before a final action. The group also discussed publishing a fillable PDF or web form, creating a distribution email, and issuing a press release and direct letters to building owners to announce the program.
The discussion followed a presentation from Fran Gerald, who returned from a regional revitalization conference and a site visit to Wumpka, Alabama. Gerald described low-cost incubator spaces (shipping-container pop-ups), active social-media promotion, a paid main-street director, curated tenant mixes, and small streetscape investments that Wumpka used to attract businesses and visitors. Gerald said the Wumpka mayor had told the delegation, “You have a plan, you work a plan,” an admonition Gerald urged Linton to adopt as the RDC finalizes its approach.
Commissioners flagged administrative details they want resolved before launch: an online application or fillable PDF, a contact/distribution email (staff were asked to have Gary set that up), and clear invoices and scopes of work for projects funded by the RDC. The commission agreed to hold one more meeting to finalize materials; commissioners expressed an aim to begin accepting applications on Jan. 1, pending completion of those steps.
What's next: staff were asked to prepare a downloadable application and a distribution address and to draft outreach (press release and letters) so the commission can finalize the program at its next meeting.
