When you think of the corner of Court and Main, you most likely picture our beautiful and historic Court House. However, you also know that corner has a nice flower shop, a building that has been occupied and unoccupied at times and the City Administration Building. It’s what is going on in the last of those buildings that I’m talking about, but it really involves all four corners.
Since we started our new City Council year early in January, we have had three regular meetings but, more importantly, we have had two work sessions and the first meeting our newly formed Economic Strategies and Cooperation Committee. These meetings have allowed us to set two major goals for 2016. The first is economic development and the second is communication.
I’ll begin with the easiest to discuss – communication. In 2016, we will create a new City website that will not only be more informative for all of our citizens but will allow interaction between residents and the City. We are also making plans to have the local cable access station broadcast our Council meetings on air and the internet for those who do not have cable.
They may not be the most exciting entertainment but they will allow anyone who is interested to see what the City is doing. You will also hear from us on the radio and see more newspaper articles by the City Manager, myself and other Council members. In other words, by the close of the year, if you are not “in-the-know” about your City, it will be on you!
Next we have economic development which encompasses helping small businesses fill empty buildings downtown, bringing larger employers to our industrial park and helping with the development of businesses in other parts of the City. We met recently with several downtown business or building owners about a grant which would help them with renovation of their facades, etc. Thanks to you the citizens, who passed a new income tax levy, we should be able to hire an economic development person to help with all the above mentioned projects.
That gives you a brief understanding of what is happening at the City Building corner of Court and Main to help with the currently unoccupied building on the second corner and with the current business on the third corner.
What about that other corner – the Court House? I strongly believe there is a greater cooperative effort going on between the City and County at the present time than ever before. The three County Commissioners, the City Manager and various members of Council are working together on projects for economic development, fighting our serious drug problem and other areas.
I hope this has given you an idea of what we are doing to make what is a great City even better. Look for more information on all these topics and feel free to give feedback or insights to City Manager Joe Denen, myself or Council members Kim Bonnell, Jim Chrisman, Trent Dye, Leah Foster, Ted Hawk and Kendra Redd-Hernandez. We would love to hear from you.
Dale Lynch is the Washington C.H. City Council Chairperson.
