Officials revisit idea of buying downtown corner for public events

The chair reopened discussion about an idea residents had raised in previous years: buying a corner property downtown for shared use at public events. The chair said the topic had been asked about before and noted that some grant programs can support property purchase, describing it as "not a priority by any means on our part but it's just something that came to my mind that I've had taxpayers talk to us about having a joint piece of property down there."

Committee members named current occupants and ownership questions during the exchange: one said the corner has a kiosk and a pizza tenant and that Peter Cavallaro was renting the corner; another identified Fairheart's Lottery as an owner. Participants described parts of the downtown as "in shambles" and debated whether properties were for sale, but no motion or formal pledge of funds was made. The conversation ended with the group declining to spend extensive time on the item that night and moving on to other agenda points.