Covington City Council entertained a presentation on the Downtown Covington Business District Revitalization Project during its work session held Tuesday.
Shannon Heady, principal of Head Down Strategies, LLC, of Richmond gave the presentation.
Heady stated that the goal of the revitalization project was to develop a comprehensive downtown revitalization plan that creates a vision for success.
She also said that the intent is to find an identifiable and measurable path to that vision.
Through this project, Heady hopes that the revitalization is founded on stakeholder input, is visionary, would be realistic, attainable and sustainable, provides a guide to implementation and places Covington in a strong position to take advantage of a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
Business District Revitalization Community Improvement Grant.
Before getting to the survey portion of the presentation, Heady stated that she used appreciative inquiry in this process.
Heady stated, “Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is the ongoing, continuous study of what gives life to a community when it is functioning at its best.”
The survey Heady discussed asked the demographics of the participants, Covington’s core values, the current strengths of downtown Covington, participants’ favorite things about downtown Covington, what creates a sense of pride and what things people want to see downtown.
Heady stated that 231 responses were given during the survey via online or phone participation.
An overwhelming majority of the participants were current Covington residents or residents from a neighboring area.
Other participants included former residents, property/business owners or those who work downtown, city government workers and tourists.
Also covered in the survey were the core values for the city of Covington as a whole, and they were listed as tradition, resiliency, creativity, hard-work, being down-to-earth and family-friendly.
The strengths of downtown Covington were covered as well with the top qualities of strength being the small town charm/Main Street feel and special/community events.
The survey also asked what brings individuals to downtown Covington most often and the top responses were to go to the post office, banking or playing at Main Street Park or swimming at the Covington Municipal Pool.
Participants also stated that they go to visit businesses/restaurants, to go walking or reminiscing.
Heady then stated in her presentation that there were plenty of opportunities for growth in downtown Covington, including businesses, housing and dining.
She also said there was the potential to have growth in outdoor life and family/kid friendly activity.
She concluded the presentation by stating the dreams for downtown Covington included diversity of products, restoration/renovation of current buildings, holding more events and nightlife, among others.
City Manager Krystal Onaitis stated, “We’re grateful for the thoughtful responses we received from the Covington community and surrounding area regarding the revitalization of our downtown business district.”
Onaitis also announced the next step in this process will be an official community summit to be held April 29.
Covington residents who wish to participate in the summit can log on to the following link:
http://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeAoUneAGuktWcOA5p08u3N72zFOIkKJH8lXl6Tba4–HY_sg/viewform
Onaitis presented the following trial recycling solution to city council Tuesday:
— The placement of an eight-ton recycling bin that is equipped with a compactor at the Nettleton property.
The bin is to arrive within the next 45 days.