By By BEN RAYMOND LODE / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Three city officials are making themselves available for business and building owners to answer questions and offer updates about the progress of the Main Street Project.
When the street scaping begins, however, they will also invite the general public to come to the meetings to ask questions about the project as it progresses.
The three are Tim Batton, cirector of Greater Niles Community Development Corporation; Juan Ganum, City of Niles Community Development director and Lisa Croteau, director of the Downtown Development Authority in Niles.
They will meet each Friday morning between 8 a.m and 9 a.m, in Croteau's office, which is located on the first floor at 210 E. Main St.
The meetings will take place for the duration of the Main Street Project, which is expected to last for two years.
He said in the beginning, therefore, the group will mainly focus on the facade removal and restorations, which mainly involves business and building owners.
Those interested he said, however, won't need to make an appointment to come and ask questions.
He said people should feel free to drop by anytime during the one-hour meeting.
But Batton encourages those who have concerns or questions to write their questions down before coming to the meeting.
Batton said the three have also contacted the Indiana based Troyer Group, who are doing the architectural assessments on the Main Street Project.
Batton expects one of the typical questions to surface at the meetings will be how far up Main Street renovations and restorations will go with the funds available. He also expects people to have questions about the store front signs.
Business owners especially, he suspects, however, will want to ask how things will be coordinated during construction, and whether the construction work will influence the daily operation of their business.