Etna Green Council Looks To Beautify Downtown Area
Posted
Jackie Gorski-jgorski@timesuniononline.com
ETNA GREEN – Etna Green Town Council will look into downtown beautification and parking.
Councilman Jason Hanes said it’s going to involve the town purchasing a couple properties that have become stagnate and putting in parking areas.
“We have a lot of people that put apartments downtown in these old businesses and the parking doesn’t really fit that well downtown,” he said.
Councilwoman Susan Klinefelter said she talked with Kurt Garner, who is a historic preservation consultant from Plymouth. Klinefelter said she quizzed Garner on the pros and cons of creating a historic district in downtown Etna Green. There weren’t any cons, but the pros were grants for nonprofit and profit business owners, as well as tax credits for profit business and residentials in the proposed district.
The first thing that would have to be done is to delineate district lines. Garner suggested doing both sides of Walnut Street between Railroad Street and the alley besides Broadway Street and both sides of Broadway Street to the alley west of Pearl Street. Klinefelter said she believed there were about two dozen buildings in that area.
She suggested bringing Garner in and seeing what information he could provide the town.
Grants were also talked about to help in the beautification of downtown.
Hanes said he, Clerk-Treasurer Patti Cook and Wastewater/Street Superintendent Andy Cook were looking into applying for a 75% match Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) grant for fixing roads in town. The grant is opened twice a year. The window is open until Jan. 28.
Hanes said he is planning on having paperwork done for the grant at the end of the week to fix Spring Street from Ind. 19 to the curve and Pearl Street from Etna Green United Methodist Church to the park.
In other business, Hanes brought up looking into law firms to represent the town.
Hanes said he thought it was a good time due to the fact town attorney Nick Jacobs took over being town attorney from Jay Rigdon Jan. 1. Hanes said it does not reflect on Jacobs and the job he has been doing so far.
Hanes said the town should at least look at their options as far as attorneys go, considering the amount of years it has been with Rockhill Pinnick LLP and the attorney changeover “and review and revisit our contract.”
Hanes said it doesn’t mean the town won’t stay with Rockhill Pinnick, but said it’s probably the best time to look at the situation.
“It’s been 30 years, and I’m not saying there’s anything stagnant, but things can get stagnant over 30 years. And maybe ... I want to make sure we’re getting our best value and we’re getting the best coverage,” Hanes said.
He said he wouldn’t have done it if Rigdon was still the town attorney due to the amount of respect Rigdon had and the amount of years he was town attorney, but Hanes said he feels it’s the right time to look into the town’s options.
Council President Keith Claassen said it’s a good thing for the town to do.
