The Chelsea Downtown Development Authority board elected new officers at its first meeting of 2023 on Jan. 19.
Tim Merkel was chosen as chairman, Ron Livengood as vice chairman, Rob Mida as secretary and Michelle Tuplin as treasurer.
Also during the business portion of the meeting, the DDA voted to hold a work session on Monday, Jan. 30 at 8 a.m. to discuss which items to submit as a report to the City Council during its annual February visioning session. The date for this meeting has not been set, but is expected to take place in mid-February.
City Manager Roy Atkinson told the DDA that the city has applied for a Pure Michigan Trail Town Designation grant and expects to hear back from the state in the next few months regarding the outcome. He said Community Development Director Adrianna Jordan did a great job on the application and he is hopeful about the outcome.
Department of Public Works Director Derik Bollinger reported that all of the downtown light poles in the DDA district have now been repainted black but the information boards are posing a bit of a problem because they have lock and hinge issues, so he is researching the costs to replace them.
Mayor Jane Pacheco mentioned that the light poles from Van Buren south are still green and asked if it was possible for those to be painted to match the black ones downtown as well.
Bollinger also reported that all the new downtown benches have been delivered and the first half of the benches that are being refurbished have been sent out for that work. In addition, all the trash containers downtown have been replaced with new ones. Talks have begun with the Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority for a potential recycling program downtown as well.
City representatives have spoken to Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) about an online program that would provide an overview of economic development options available in the state, including Main Street Michigan. It’s hoped that the city can work with other towns and organizations to put together an information-gathering session for the DDA, city council, planning commission, business owners and other interested folks for potential future initiatives.
An example would be ideas from experts that the city could implement that would bridge the gap between the downtown and the business area south of town.
The next regular meeting of the DDA is scheduled to take place on Feb. 16 at 8 a.m.
If you would like to listen to the full meeting, please go to the city’s website and click on meeting videos in the upper right side.
