Planning Team Wants Input

DAYTON - A group of four specialists has been selected to help-Dayton's Development Task Force come up with a comprehensive plan for Dayton's Commercial Street corridor from the Touchet River to the Seneca plant.

And as local coordinators of the effort, the task force is eager to get input from the public and from historical preservation groups as part of the first phase to shape the future of Dayton's historic corridor, which some say has the "pearls" waiting to be "strung together."

To receive public input for the development planning effort, the task force has scheduled a series of meetings with the consultants Oct. 3 - 5 at the Delaney Building. The consultants include Anderson Perry, an engineering firm based in La Grande, Ore.; David Berniker, an urban design and planning specialist based in Portland; Marketek, a market analysis and economic development firm also in Portland; and Dougherty Landscaping Architects in Eugene.

The task force was recently awarded a $25,000 grant from Sherwood Trust in Walla Walla to use in the planning of the historic corridor. It needs at least $35,000 to pay for all the planning elements proposed by the consulting team led by Doughterty Landscaping Architects or DLA, task force member Bill Clemens told council members during a presentation Monday night.

The DLA team was selected from four bids on the project, a process conducted under the leadership of Marcene Hendrickson and with a sub-committee composed of Clemens, Jacqui Wooten and City Clerk Trina Cole.

"I believe we will get a good product," said Merle Jackson, councilman and mayor pro tem who chaired the meeting in Mayor Craig George's absence.

The council, which did not have enough attendance to produce a quorum, could not act on a request from Clemens for $10,000 in city funding for the planning project, but Merle said it likely will appear on the agenda at the next regular council meeting on Oct. 10.

The DLA team's forums will Town Hall-style public meetings for the community, council, business and property owners.

The team of DLA is tasked with creating a long-term design for our Commercial Street corridor, a streetscape improvement plan that will include future projects, plantings, parking, branding and marketing. Everyone is invited to attend and encouraged to participate, organizers said.