MEETING MINUTES

OCTOBER 21, 2021

City Council Room at 9 a.m.

Present: Paula Clark, Cindy Mason via phone, Lexxi Haddock, Joanne Broadwater, and Duane Roderick.

Please let Lexxi know if you are interested in continuing on with Attica Main Street as a board member, if you are open to an executive officer role, or if you need to take a step back to a more event by event basis.

Reminder that Attica Main Street will be meeting with Andrea Kern on November 4th from 10 a.m. to noon to go over the Preserving Main Street process. There was discussion on next steps we should take in following up on the preservation ordinances that OCRA had wanted Preserving Main Street communities to have in place.

The executive committee is still in the process of reviewing the resumes and cover letters submitted for the Main Street Director Position and plan set up interviews the first week of November. The goal is to have the position filled before our planning retreat.

Cindy reached out to Angie Williams of Spark Consulting Group to ask about a quote for facilitating for our planning retreat. This is who Cindy has worked with in the past on Area IV! We emailed templates of what we need to produce, told her we expect 5-10 people in attendance, and she will get back to us on a quote to move forward.

WEGA and The Troyer Group have set public meetings and the open house for the Downtown Master Plan for next Wednesday, October 27th. The Troyer Group will be meeting with various groups (governmental services, manufacturing, professional services, retirees, small business, tourism, and schools) throughout the day, and the public meeting is from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the West Mill Social Hall that evening. The survey is online and paper forms can be picked up at City Hall.

Cindy mentioned that we should purchase the remaining half of snowflakes for the city light poles. Duane said he would try to track down what he ordered last time, and have a conversation about the replaced light pole that didn’t have electric to see what could be done.

Paula is working on plans for Christmas in Attica. It will take place the first Saturday in December. She is working on putting together the afternoon activities, movie at the Devon, and night parade in collaboration with The Badlands. Brainstorming included having a mailbox for letters to Santa the whole month of December downtown, asking Robie if he could play Christmas Vacation, and inviting a camper to serve hot chocolate in front of the theatre. The parade form is available online and there will be $50 prizes awarded to 5 different categories. A public planning meeting is set for Tuesday, November 2nd at 7 p.m. at The Sanctuary (the space is not conducive to children).

 Next meeting will be November 4th at 7 p.m. 

OCTOBER 7, 2021

City Council Room at 7 p.m.

Present: Emily Harrison, Paula Clark, Cindy Mason, Lexxi Haddock, Brent Bauerband via phone, and Denise Routzahn

Please let Lexxi know if you are interested in continuing on with Attica Main Street as a board member, if you are open to an executive officer role, or if you need to take a step back to a more event by event basis. We appreciate all of the hours everyone puts in! There was also discussion on downtown business owners who might be interested in getting more involved.

Attica Main Street will be meeting with Andrea Kern on November 4th from 10 a.m. to noon to go over the Preserving Main Street process. The next time we would be open to apply is year 2023.

There was a discussion on the 4 points of Main Street and Brent sent out information on that to those present at the meeting. If you did not receive that email and would like the information please let Lexxi know.

There were 7 applications for the Main Street Executive Director position. One was submitted in error, and one withdrew their application prior to review. The executive committee will review the resumes and cover letters and set up interviews. The goal is to have the position filled before our planning retreat.

Cindy is going to reach out to a facilitator for our planning retreat, and will get back to us on possible dates for this to take place. This would be a day-long event, putting together our workplan for 2022 (to the level that we need in order to submit for leveling up to Indiana Accredited Main Street).

Cindy, Lexxi, and Paula met with DeeDee Leonard to go over the Indiana Main Street Downtown Affiliate Network Community Discussion/Assessment. This helped us identify things we should be working toward to make our organization stronger. This assessment is voluntary and takes place every 3 years.

WEGA for their 5-year plan identified 3 main projects to tackle: the market, 200 block, and relocating city hall, police, and fire station. If they get the READI Grant, the market would need to hire a full-time director and a part-time support staff person this time next year. The Troyer Group (hired by WEGA) will be sending out a survey for the Downtown Master Plan. Will share once we have it!

Paula is working on plans for Christmas in Attica. It will take place the first Saturday in December. She is working on putting together the afternoon activities, movie at the Devon, and night parade in collaboration with The Badlands. Next year we are looking into possibly having drive-thru Christmas lights/scenes at The Badlands.

 Next meeting will be October 21st at 9 a.m.