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Letter from City HallBy RON SINGEL, City Administrator, City of Waterville Editor's note: Asked to write an update on what's new from City Hall, Ron said he was "a man without news;" he just had an informal update on projects "in progress." You'll be surprised to hear all that's happening in Waterville these days. Dear Local Voices Reader, We just held a recent meeting to learn more about the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street Program. The Trust has a representative stationed in Portland, and she spoke with our group about the program, and how other communities are using it. Maine is the only state without a recognized Main Street Program, while the program is proliferating in other states with good success stories. A newly-formed local "Kitchen Cabinet" is broken down into three subcommittees to look at the following: goals and objectives of a Waterville program; the composition of the board of directors; and what type of assessment district we need here in Waterville to raise the funds to accomplish our goals and objectives. Our next meeting is in July. We have not set a date for the next public meeting regarding Waterfront Development, but I think it will be scheduled for early to mid-July. The City has purchased banners for the downtown area and they should be here in a couple of weeks. A committee selected the design. This is a summer banner (we are a little behind schedule) and we hope to select a fall banner and place an order to get those here by the time when fall arrives. The goal is to have four seasonal banners, and "specialty banners" located in strategic spots for our special events (Taste of Waterville, Film Festival, Arts Festival, Cultural and Heritage Festival, etc.). We will be looking at what it would take to provide power to Castonguay Square to light the trees for the holidays and perhaps in the evenings when special events are taking place downtown and at the Opera House. The City will be looking to plan, schedule, and hold a variety of special events in the future in order to bring people into the downtown area. Most special events take a year to plan properly. This year, we have begun a summer concert series in the Square with a variety of musical styles and musicians. We are also thinking about having a fall series when Colby and Thomas College students are back in session. There was an interest shown by students who were musicians and who we had contacted but were not around for the summer to perform. Next year, the City will be sponsoring the Cultural and Heritage Festival (hopefully in cooperation with other sponsorship) and we hope to make it bigger and better with music, events, food, parade, and expanding from a one day event to a two or three day event. The City is also going to attempt an Octoberfest next fall. Bangor began this two years ago and it has grown in popularity very quickly. Being a Slovak from Cleveland, Ohio, I miss those things. Lots of beer, music, food and great fun. Economically, there may be light at the end of the tunnel for Waterville. The City is still in distress with the second year in a row of property devaluation due to stagnant economy and lack of development. However, there are developments coming to the City over the next 12 to 24 months: an Applebee's (bar and grill pub style) is coming this summer; Hampton Inn is planning to build on Kennedy Memorial Drive (KMD) this year; the Atrium is underway with extensive renovations; Holiday Inn has submitted plans for extensive renovations just under $2 million dollars; Chinet is retooling (a $12 million dollar project) and hopefully expanding as they become more competitive; there is a shopping center "war" on between two developers for the development of 500,000 square feet of retail behind Elm Plaza and/or on Shores Road off of KMD; doctor offices (taxable) are being built near Inland Hospital; Bangor Savings plans to build a new bank at Main and Chaplin. These are just a few of the projects on the table right now. We have plans to have a more visible Town and Gown relationship with Colby and Thomas College. Stay tuned. The City would like to begin a quarterly newsletter for our residents letting them know what is happening in the City. We are developing a survey in order to gauge public comment on our city services (how good are we doing, what we do, where can we improve, what would you like to see, etc.). We are also working on a customer comment card program in which we would receive feedback (anonymously or not) about the face-to-face services that the public receives from City Hall. So essentially, we are working on improving the quality of life while at the same time trying to expand our tax base. If you have any questions or if you need more information, please let me know. Feel free to stop in, call, or e-mail.
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