Committees formed at second Downtown Forum for Waukon

by Bob Beach

The second Waukon Downtown Forum was held Tuesday evening, February 28 in the Community Room at Farmers and Merchants Savings Bank in Waukon. Maura Jones of Waukon presented an overview of recommendations from a vision study of downtown Waukon that was completed in 2006 but never acted on.
Focusing on connections, architecture and natural attractions, the study suggested ways to make downtown Waukon more accessible to pedestrian and bicycle traffic; to add attractions to keep people downtown, such as outdoor dining, wi-fi connections, public venues and community events; to address parking issues; to beautify the downtown streetscape with landscaping; and to accentuate the unique 19th century architecture of downtown buildings, all in an effort to capture what small-town living is about.
Following the presentation, those in attendance divided into eight different committees which, in the future, could form the building blocks for participation in the Main Street Iowa program, as the community of Lansing has recently done. Those committees include: Events and Natural Attractions, chaired by Cassie Tysland; Shop Waukon/Buy Waukon Campaign, chaired by Cindy Fritz; City Regulations and Relations, chaired by Dave Sanderson; Signage and Business Promotion, chaired by Dan Cunningham; Business Expansion, Recruitment and Incentives, chaired by Dan Headington; City Identity and Branding, chaired by Corey Shelton; Beautification, Parking, Streetscape and Vision Study Implementation, chaired by Maura Jones; and Fundraising and Grants, chaired by Josh Miller.
Those eight committees are expected to meet on a bi-weekly basis while monthly meetings of the full group will continue. For more information on the overall project or to join one of the committees, contact the Allamakee County Economic Development Office at 563-568-2624.