At Tuesday’s Hastings City Council meeting, Community Development Director Dan King gave council members an update on activities in his busy department. In addition to ongoing commercial and industrial development projects, the department’s other activities include:
Jingle and Mingle
The Jingle and Mingle committee has been working on the annual holiday event since February. The committee will coordinate the flyer and handbill with the billboard north of Caledonia so that a uniform color and content flows for the event, he said. The budget is set and sponsors being lined up and now the committee is looking for volunteers to help with this year’s event. They will ask volunteers to commit to just one event so they can enjoy the rest of the weekend’s events. Those interested in helping can contact Tracy Baker at At Home Real Estate.
Master Plan Update
The Master Plan Steering Committee continues work on the Master Plan update. The housing and business and industry sections of part two of the Master Plan update is in process. The next section to work on will be the partnership/collaboration section. The committee has identified two work tasks that McKenna will be organizing. The final section will pertain to infrastructure, likely to begin in the in the next 45 days.
Adopt-A-Corner
Diane Haines, from the Thornapple Garden Club, reports she has several new sponsors for corners. New this year will be a rotating Mayor’s Choice award for the well-maintained beds on a monthly basis. Haines anticipates the awards will instill a great amount of pride in all of the sponsor’s corners, resulting in continued maintenance of the beds all summer long, King said.
Former County Seat Building
The new owner/tenant of the County Seat building is Main Street BBQ and work has begun on the inside of the building. This will be the second location for the restaurant; the original is on Main Street in Lowell. The target is to have the restaurant opened several weeks prior to Summerfest.
Second Hand Corners
King said he was pleased that the Second Hand Corners building did not sit idle very long, with an offer accepted and in the process of being sold in a week. When the new owner is formally announced, his department will work closely with the owner for façade grants and Community Development Block Grant and Downtown Rental Rehab opportunities.
Façade Grants
The Downtown Development Authority has approved several façade grants:
*Jefferson Street Investors/Main Street BBQ--$5,500 for windows and doors on the former County Seat Building.
*Bercier Family Chiropractic --$3,767.50 for new siding, window and doors on their attached building.
*Zwei Bruder Development--$11,000 for the front façade of their two downtown buildings.
Fiscal year to date, the DDA has committed funding of $40,877.50, with just under $10,000 available to commit for the fiscal year ending June 30.
Community development has a total of 4,752 likes and 4,885 followers on Facebook. For the month, they have reached more than 39,000 with our posts. “Facebook continues to be a fantastic platform to reach both city residents and nonresidents alike,” King said.
Upcoming Events
*City Band at Thornapple Plaza June 5 and Wednesdays thru July 3 at 7:30 p.m.
*Playing at the Spray Plaza June 13 thru Aug. 8 Thursdays at 11 a.m.
*Fridays at the Fountain June 14 thru Aug. 9 at noon
“If you have any questions, concerns, or ideas please feel free to contact me at dking@hastingsmi.org or 269-945-2468,” King said.
