In an effort to keep downtown an economic hotbed of activity, aldermen this week created a temporary joint business/city task force to monitor a facade restoration grant program.
The 14-member Retail Task Force Ad-Hoc Committee also is charged with finding ways to keep customers pouring into Geneva’s central business district.
“We have a good thing going and we just want to keep it that way,” said Christine Jefferies, Geneva’s economic development coordinator. “We want to take a pro-active approach so we never find ourselves in a downtown restoration situation like so many other towns.”
The City Council this week also accepted one of the first recommendations from the committee, which has been meeting on an informal basis.
Officials approved spending $5,000 during the upcoming holiday shopping season on street entertainers and carriage rides as an added draw for shoppers on Sundays.
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Jefferies said committee members believe bigger crowds will entice some businesses that normally are closed on Sundays to remain open.
The committee also will administer a matching grant program in which merchants can apply for up to $5,000 to help restore their store facades.
The program will run through May 1, at which time the council will evaluate it and decide whether to extend it for five years, Jefferies said.