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Main Street tells CRA about events, digital archive and grant projects
Summary
A Main Street representative updated the Clermont CRA on recent events, a new digital film archive, community engagement projects and grant pursuits, and provided activity metrics including business growth and volunteer hours.
At a Community Redevelopment Agency meeting, a Main Street representative outlined recent programming, digital and grant work intended to boost downtown Clermont’s economy and community engagement. The presenter said Main Street has run events such as Small Business Saturday (a duck-feed giveaway), Moms on Main, a monthly wine stroll and a combined July 5 farmers-market/picnic event, and has been expanding online outreach with a new YouTube channel and a "Claremont on Screen" film archive.
Why it matters: Main Street’s work supports downtown businesses and seeks to attract visitors. The presenter said the organization is focused on increasing visibility for local shops, helping with grant writing and fundraising, and engaging residents in public-space planning.
The Main Street representative described two grant-related efforts. She said a design-guideline grant that would cover the CRA district is scheduled to begin July 1 if the governor signs the budget, and she described a proposed traveling museum exhibit (in partnership with the Historic Village) organized around inventions, industries, individuals and identities. She also described a separate art exhibit planned to start July 1 if grant funding is available; she said the organization will proceed with a partial set of paintings even if the full grant is not awarded because budgeted match funding exists.
On community engagement, the presenter described a "Sketch Your Dream Park" project for the Montrose tot lot aimed at gathering children’s input and noted strong early interest in making the park ADA accessible. When asked whether Main Street had requested letters of support from city staff for the Center Lake project, the presenter said, "We have not asked for letters for Center Lake or the Tatlot; what we asked for was the historic-structures-survey follow-up and the traveling museum one." Council member Strange had asked specifically about a previously discussed request for letters; Patrick Bianchi later said he had located a mayor-signed letter of support for the Clermont Botanical Garden and noted many letters had been submitted.
The presenter offered headline performance figures she attributed to Florida Main Street re-accreditation and local tracking: "a net of 123 new businesses in the district, 220 new jobs, public dollars invested is over a billion and private is 11 million," and volunteer hours "hovering around just 6,000." She corrected herself on a figure during the presentation when she paused and revised a number on the record; these totals were described as based on permit numbers and internal tracking.
Board members and staff agreed to follow up on a community request concerning the Montrose/12th Street park; staff said they would meet with Main Street the following week to discuss maintenance, management and potential partnership or grant solutions. No formal CRA action was taken on Main Street’s items at this meeting.
Next steps: Main Street and staff will meet to discuss the Montrose park and work on grant-related support; the presenter asked to be invited back for future updates as projects progress.
