Council moves downtown revitalization into implementation after consultant survey

Cosmo consultants and the city manager presented an 18‑month downtown revitalization strategy and survey that the city says drew about 169 responses. The presentation identified top priorities—improving the downtown business environment, small‑business assistance and leveraging natural recreation and tourism—and proposed immediate implementation steps, including marketing, property‑owner outreach and grant pursuit.

"We received about a 169, surveys from residents, business owners, etcetera," said Robert Valente of Cosmo Companies, summarizing public feedback. City manager Dustin Reif said the grant that funded the work still has unspent dollars and that Cosmo's contract runs through Dec. 31, but implementation could continue on a project‑by‑project basis after grant funds end.

Council members pressed for concrete deliverables and regular reporting. Council directed staff to convene stakeholders, explore a property business improvement district, advance marketing and pursue specific projects that can be achieved quickly with available grant funds. The council set a 90‑day implementation check‑in and agreed to further updates in summer and at closeout later in the year.

Public commenters and local economic‑development leaders urged prioritizing business retention and recruiting commercial investment. Quentin Gaddy of the Small Business Development Center noted local capacity gaps for business recruitment and recommended the city leverage existing regional programs to fill them.

Next steps: staff will set stakeholder meetings and return with an implementation schedule and funding breakdown at the proposed 90‑day check‑in.