Revitalize Delton Project Meeting: November 9th, 2023
6:30pm at the DKHS LGI
Attendees: 32
Opening Statements: Marsha Bassett
- Brief summary of the project origins: the purpose is to help bring additional housing, families, and business to Delton. In turn, this will hopefully help increase enrollment at Delton Kellogg Schools.
- Antero Group Corridor study projected to be completed in 2024, this will be shared with the group. At the previous meeting, Antero Group interviewed members of the community and are using that information to complete the study on the community needs.
- Thank you to Karen Ebright from The Hastings Banner for attending meetings and continuing to share progress on the project. The news articles have been a great source of information for community members, and a great way to spread the word on the project.
Updates:
- Barry Bowers, Barry Township: Water tower is moving forward. Footings have been completed. Tower should be delivered by the end of year, target completion spring 2024.
- Jim McManus, Barry County Planner: new county master plan adopted recently. New zoning ordinances will be implemented in 2024, timing of a new housing development coincides with this well. The 25 acres from the Southwest Barry County Sewer Authority set aside for housing has already been zoned and approved to meet the needs of the Revitalize Delton Project needs. Currently there are significant housing needs in the county, a new subdivision would fill.
- Nichole Lyke, Barry County Chamber of Commerce: Antero Group is currently compiling data from the last meeting. The area of focus will be Delton Rd down to Bush, Orchard down to Brickyard. Results/report should be ready within the next 6 months. There are ways to work with the Barry County Chamber of Commerce to help offset development costs for developers/builders.
Committee Updates:
- Housing/Infrastructure Committee: The next step will be the feasibility study. Working on securing funding to pay for the study. The study purpose is to identify what kind of housing we need in Delton and pricing that will be sustainable and attainable for families to move into our town. The study will cost $15,000. We are actively looking for sponsors to help fund the study, we need to get to $9,500 to start the project. The study will take approximately 12-15 weeks to complete. This is the first piece, we cannot develop housing until we understand the needs.
- Economic Growth: non-profit for the community association has filed paperwork, bylaws are developed. We are looking for members of the community to join the board. If interested, please contact one of the following people:
- Jerry McCoy - deweymccoy5@gmail.com
- Marsha Bassett - bassett@MSU.edu
- Leah Stoll - leahmariestoll@gmail.com
- Marketing/Community Relations: new logo/slogans developed to help brand Delton and attract families to move into our area after additional housing has been added. Community members in attendance had the opportunity to vote on one of three different options. A community poll will be conducted online, majority vote will be adopted as new branding for Delton.
Open Floor:
- Are there plans to include rentals in the housing development?
- This has been discussed in the housing committee, we will receive this answer in the feasibility study
- Has this committee reviewed the top 5 small towns in the United States to see what they are doing?
- We shared and reviewed the story of what Vicksburg did to revitalize their town that is now thriving.
- We will review what other towns are doing, and incorporate as we can
- Are there formal boundaries of Delton?
- In relationship to this project, our primary focus will be on the Delton Kellogg School District Boundaries for housing, and Delton proper for economic growth.
Next Steps:
- Looking for board members
- Meetings: audience voted to hold community meetings moving forward on the second Thursday every other month, starting in January 2024, meetings will be in odd months. Committee meetings will be monthly.
- Next meeting date: Thursday January 11th, 2024 at 6:30pm in the Delton Kellogg High School LGI
