Tag: Oregon Main Street

Cottage Grove to begin Local Foods, Local Places virtual workshop

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Ashley Adelman

The City of Cottage Grove invites the community to participate in its Local Foods, Local Places Workshop being held virtually Nov. 5 and 6.

Cottage Grove was one of 16 communities selected from across the nation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Local Foods, Local Places program in 2020 to help revitalize Main Street and the surrounding community through food systems and place-making initiatives.

Registration for the upcoming workshop is free and will be a two-day brainstorming session, leading to a plan of action for better integrating local foods systems into Cottage Grove’s economic recovery.

The city is asking farmers, producers, growers, restaurant owners, entrepreneurs, business owners, tourist organizations, non-profits, local government officials, etc. — all of whom have a stake in the local food system’s future — to help.

With an overarching theme of building a resilient local/regional food system, four topics have been identified by the Local Food, Local Places steering committee:

• Identify strategies to support and enhance existing commercial kitchen and food incubator spaces.

• Improve food security and public health in Cottage Grove.

• Increase the involvement of Cottage Grove’s underrepresented/immigrant populations (e.g. youth, BIPOC representatives) in local food and place-making initiatives.

• Build stronger supply chain connections for farmers and food producers with both local and regional markets.

There will be time in the sessions to discuss and refine the topics if necessary.

Participants will brainstorm potential actions or next steps necessary to advance each goal and there will be breakout rooms to detail the actions selected by participants as highest priority for each goal.

The workshop will consist of a series of seven virtual sessions leading up to the completion of a draft community action plan framed around the community goals for this technical assistance process.

For full details and to register, visit bit.ly/LFLPCottageGrove. For more information, contact City Planner Amanda Ferguson at 541-942-3340.

Urban Renewal Authorizes $400,000 For ReVision Monuments

Posted on March 11, 2020October 27, 2020 by Ashley Adelman

By Mark Brennan

The Florence Urban Renewal Agency (FURA) met Feb. 26 at Florence City Hall with a short agenda but faced a decision on whether or not to spend thousands of dollars for two gateway monuments on Maple Street, as one of the final pieces in this phase of the ReVision Florence Streetscaping Project.

The agency began the meeting with Chairperson Bill Meyer welcoming new member Mark Tilton to FURA. The attention of the group was then directed to issues related to the ongoing ReVision Florence project.

The original ReVision Florence called for monuments to be built to welcome people to Historic Old Town Florence. The plan was to have a total of three built and to place two on Maple Street and one on Quince Street.

Unfortunately, the cost for all three of the pieces exceeded the monies budgeted for the project, according to Florence Project Manager Megan Messmer. The scope of the project was reduced by eliminating the Quince Street component from the equation.

In a memorandum Messmer provided to FURA directors explaining the decision she wrote, “The budget for this project was $396,000. Unfortunately, both bids came in above the budget and the engineer’s estimate of $416,000, which included a construction estimate of $396,000 and $20,000 in contingency. … Staff does not believe that removing the Quince Street monument would have a large impact on the integrity of the ReVision Florence Project as a whole.”

Messmer’s memorandum also pointed out that when these monuments were originally designed, the Quince Street property across from the FEC was not owned by the agency. Now that FURA has control over that property and is seeking lodging or related developments there, she believes there is value in waiting to construct a gateway at Quince.

The future gateway at this location could include additional directional signage for Old Town that includes lodging, shops, restaurants and the Florence Events Center.

Messmer also wrote that the current ODOT contract will construct the base for a monument at Quince Street that will be usable for another type of monument at a later date.

During the meeting, she recommended that directors accept the negotiated bid and to enter into a contract with Specialty Metal Fabricators LLC in the amount of $375,000, for the construction of the two gateway monuments at Maple Street, which they did.

Messmer also asked directors to authorize the City Manager to enter into Amendment 5 with the Engineering firm Murraysmith for construction administration, engineering and inspection for $57,000, which will result in a net change to the contract of approximately $34,000. The total expected expenditures for the two monuments on Maple Street will be approximately $409,000.

Directors discussed the financial ramifications of the agreement briefly before approving both of Messmer’s requests.

Messmer also presented the directors with an update on the construction currently underway with ReVision and presented a proposal for a FURA Redevelopment Assistance Program, which included suggested eligibility guidelines, program application and an overview flyer.

Directors voiced support for the program and approved moving forward with the proposal.

The second major update of the meeting came from City Manager Erin Reynolds, who provided a recap of the steps taken to this point regarding the marketing of the Quince Street property which is owned by the city.

Community and Economic Development Assistant Sarah Moehrke also made a brief presentation on the property, asking the directors to approve the first phase of landscaping the area at a cost of approximately $5,000.

This phase would remove underbrush and forest debris from the location. A second phase of the landscaping effort would focus on delimbing trees and removing larger brush from the area. The second phase would be considerably more expensive, and Moehrke reported the city would continue to accept bids for Phase 2 of the project.

Directors then approved the request.

The next FURA meeting is scheduled to take place at Florence City Hall on March 25 at 5:30 p.m.

For more information, visit www.ci.florence.or.us/urbanrenewal.

Originally published in the Siuslaw News

Falls City Looks To Rehab Building

Posted on January 10, 2020January 10, 2020 by Ashley Adelman

FALLS CITY — The city of Falls City hopes to build a partnership with Polk County to redevelop a vacant property it owns on North Main Street into an operating business.

In 2017, the owner of the then-Little Luckiamute Clinic donated the property, located at 304 N. Main, to the city. It has since been vacant and falling into disrepair.

The next year, the city formed a committee to explore options to occupy the building, with the possibility that the new tenant would repair the building in exchange for little or no rent for a certain amount of time.

“The advisory committee made a suggestion and that is to partner with Turning Earth Farms, have them fix it up and do a contract,” said city manager Mac Corthell at a council meeting in December.

Turning Earth Farms would have made the building into a community/multi-use center and would have managed it.

“It didn’t work out. When we attempted to negotiate, I think there were some things they didn’t anticipate that they would need to be responsible for,” Corthell said. “It wasn’t a feasible agreement to be made.”

He said the contract was scrapped and so was the advisory committee.

Corthell said having the building vacant and deteriorating will eventually be a liability to the city, so he proposed a plan to put the property into use again.

“It’s in a prime location in Falls City, so we really need to look at moving that thing one way or another,” Corthell said. “We are looking into the cost to get it habitable, and my goal and plan is to discuss the potential of a two-part grant with the county. The county offers an economic vitality grant, if you will. They give out $30,000 for free to businesses that create jobs in Polk County. I’m going to attempt to partner with them.”

He said the hope is to get cost estimates to repair the property for occupancy and seek a grant to pay for the work. Then once a tenant has been identified, apply for an economic opportunity grant from Polk County to help the business get started.

He said the option could be more beneficial than selling the property, because it could eventually become a revenue source with a lease, and the city would have more control on what kind of business occupied the property.

William Sullivan, an AmeriCorps Resource Assistance for Rural Economics participant working for the city, said the first step is finding out how much it will cost to rehabilitate the building.

“We will have some contractors take a look at it and get some itemized numbers to bring back to council,” Sullivan said.

Mayor Jeremy Gordon said he liked the idea of spending money on the former clinic to help get it occupied.

“I think the city should invest a little in that property,” he said. “If we are asking people to clean up theirs, we should be taking care of ours.”

Originally published by the Itemizer-Observer

Grovers Gobble Up Return Of ‘Turkey Drop’

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Ashley Adelman

Grovers relived a downtown tradition on Nov. 23 as plush turkeys were thrown off the roof of the Axe & Fiddle building to eager, outstretched arms.

The Turkey Drop, a tradition extending back to 1930, gives locals a chance to win a Thanksgiving dinner or dessert. Though live turkeys were used in past iterations, modern sensibilities have since seen a transition to stuffed animals.

“This event is to promote Small Business Saturday, which is to encourage people to shop locally and support your local business owners,” said Cottage Grove Main Street Coordinator Molly Murai.

On Saturday, 45 stuffed turkeys were thrown to a crowd of young and old, all hoping to snatch a doll with a winning number.

In the subsequent drawing, two turkey dinners and a large chocolate turkey were awarded to a few select winners.

Grocery Outlet provided coupons and the fixings for the turkey dinners while Sanity Chocolate provided the chocolate turkey prize.

“I’d also really like to thank Alyssa Gonzales for helping and agreeing to let us use her building (the Axe & Fiddle),” said Murai.

Originally published in The Cottage Grove Sentinel

City, Grassroots Team Honored For Downtown Improvements

Posted on October 15, 2019October 15, 2019 by Ashley Adelman

Downtown Warrenton was recognized during a statewide conference of Oregon Main Street.

The city, along with Spruce Up Warrenton, were named “The One to Watch.”

There were 20 businesses, projects, and people recognized at the annual awards event held late last week in Tillamook.

“The city and Spruce Up Warrenton have been working hard on revitalizing downtown (and) South Main Avenue and it is getting noticed!” the city exclaimed on its Facebook page.

Brenda Hoxsey, director of the grassroots Spruce Up Warrenton group, was surprised they’d won an award. She and others from their group had attended the conference to pick up some tips.

“I had no idea and, when we registered, they had little nametags that hung around your neck. Norm (her husband) and I both got one. And it said we were an award winner. I thought there must be a mistake here,” Hoxsey said.

Spruce Up has been working separately but in cooperation with the city. Together they’ve helped revitalize more than a dozen downtown properties, removed weeds and trash, and encouraged businesses to add planters and flowers.

The city has worked with property owners to remove blight at dozens more properties throughout the city. Marina staff created a successful Fish and Farmers Market on Thursdays. Commissioners created an area for a food truck court next to City Hall and its Urban Renewal Agency embarked on a landscaping plan at the four-way stop, near the high school and along South Main Avenue.

“We’ve got a lot to do yet,” Hoxsey said. “People taking a lot more pride in the community. It’s been very rewarding.”

The group plans several large projects in the spring and is working with Warrenton High School’s welding class on decorative trash cans and art students to do some murals.

Also recognized:

** Sarah Lu, Astoria Downtown Historic District Association’s executive director, was named Main Street Manager of the Year.

** Marcus and Michelle Liotta, owners of the M&N Building, 248 Marine Drive, for Best Historic Preservation Project.

“The award winners serve as inspiration to communities across our network and reflect some of the highest level of revitalization success,” said Sheri Stuart, state coordinator of Oregon Main Street. “We are so inspired to see how our historic downtowns across Oregon are coming to life through the creativity, passion, and plain hard work of community members.”

Originally published by the Columbia Press

Reedsport Mainstreet Program Wins Downtown Revitalization Award

Posted on October 11, 2019 by Ashley Adelman

REEDSPORT — The Reedsport Main Street Program was the recipient of the state’s 2019 “Best Downtown Image Campaign” award during the Oregon Main Street Conference, thanks to its #TuesdaysOnTheTown social media campaign.

The Reedsport Main Street Program was awarded 2019’s Best Downtown Image Campaign for highlighting the stories of downtown Reedsport’s busines…

The Facebook campaign promoted businesses on Main Street by interviewing owners about their lives, the story behind their business and coming to Reedsport, and what being a main street business means to them. The Reedsport Main Street Program compiled the interviews in a narrative format on Facebook with the pilot post reaching 3,900 people with over 1,600 engagements. According to Emily Bradley, with the Reedsport Main Street Program, this made it the most interacted post in the page’s history.

Bradley recalled they were going through the list of categories for the program and came across the entry for a downtown image campaign. She said the category was the one to really jump out as something to go for.

“We were able to show we had the numbers to be award-worthy,” she said, adding that they were nominated for another award, for best economic vitality, but lost to another community’s program.

The hashtag began as a way to get to know the downtown business owners and start forming a familiar bond with them. Bradley said she has other interviews from #TuesdaysOnTheTown ready to go, and plans to conduct more in the near future. With the Reedsport Centennial celebrations wrapping up over the next few months, she hopes to post more soon.

The Oregon Main Street Program stated that it’s incredible what the state’s communities are able to do. A number of other Oregon towns were represented, with several of them winning awards for their own Main Street Program.

“The award winners serve as an inspiration to communities across our Network and reflect some of the highest level of revitalization success,” said Sheri Stuart, state coordinator for Oregon Main Street. “We are so inspired to see how our historic downtowns across Oregon are coming to life through the creativity, passion, and plain hard work of community members.”

Originally published by the Umpqua Post