DDA Narrows Main Street Field to Four

The Downtown Development Authority has narrowed the field to four in its search for a manager of the Michigan Main Street program. The DDA board will interview three candidates at a special meeting that begins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Schultz-Holmes Memorial Library auditorium. A fourth candidate, currently residing in Florida, will be invited, as well, but made it known that he might not be able to get the time off work or pay for the airfare and accommodations.

At 5:30, the board will meet to discuss ways to score the candidates. At 6 p.m. the board meets with Tracy Knoeller. At 6:45 p.m., the board will interview Michael Sessions.  At 7:30 p.m., candidate Joshua Long will be interviewed. At 8:15 p.m., the board will interview Matthew Schuld, if he makes the trip. If not, the board will discuss the candidates. DDA chairman Lynn Southward said he expected the board would decide that night.

A DDA subcommittee interviewed several candidates. The committee was prepared to recommend two finalists to the DDA board but the plan was scuttled when one of the finalists took a Main Street Manager job in Hart. Jae Guetschow, the village president who also serves on the DDA board, said the committee didn’t feel right offering just one candidate, so another subcommittee hastily interview a couple of other candidates and recommended the new batch of candidates. Joshua Long was the other finalist in the original recommendations.

In other news from the DDA board meeting:

The board received a draft copy of bylaws governing the Michigan Main Street program. Southward asked the board to look over the bylaws and said he’d like a brief discussion and vote at Wednesday’s meeting.

The board voted to allow the spending of up to $500 for costs relating to the Michigan Main Street baseline studies taking place Sept. 27-29. The costs will include a public reception at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 28, likely at the library.

The board accepted the resignation of Karen Baldwin, who wrote in a latter that she was resigning to spend more time on family commitments.

Village Administrator Jim Wonacott informed the DDA board that the Lenawee County Board of Commissioners voted 9-0 to approve a rental rehabilitation that will help property owners repair or create new apartments in three downtown buildings damaged in the February fire. The buildings are Cakes n’ Shakes, Royal Expressions, and the building housing the new carpet business owned by the Slusher family. The state program could help the property owners with matching grants of up to $25,000-per-unit for repairs, or $35,000-per-unit to build new units. The grants are made possible by Michigan State Housing Development Authority Community Development Block Grants. The property owner must come up with at least 25 percent of the total project cost.  As part of the deal, for five years the property owner must agree to rent all or a portion of their units to tenant households with incomes at or below 80 percent of the area median income. The program has been around for a few years. Village Administrator Jim Wonacott began chasing down the grant possibilities after the February fire in downtown Blissfield. He said that other downtown property owners could be eligible for the grant when the application window opens again in the spring. Wonacott said interested property owners should contact the village office at 486-4347. The matter went before the county commissioners because a village can not apply for funds on behalf of village officials or village employees and their family members. Property owners Bob Valdez and Debbie Royal serve on the DDA board.