Present: Allie Rouse, Jill Steele, Chris Zuzga, Sarah Sandell, Marsha Bassett, Dewey McCoy, Ashly Wilson, Marie Ferris
Absent: Don Perry
Feasibility Study
- Recap on prior discussion for those who were absent at the last meeting
- Want to get a more accurate order on which housing options are recommended for our area
- Seemed very generic, would like more of a recommendation for how to allocate the amount of land we have.
- Seems like the report aims to make us a bedroom community, not to sustain a vibrant community and bring in families to join our community.
- AMI is not accurate as compared to MSHDA or Census data
- Report lacks economic development outlook
- Asked TC to try to contact everyone that was on our list of stakeholders
o They only spoke to roughly 10 people and wanted only imperial data not opinions from board members and other people
- Want to get an accurate figure of how much money was given out from DKEF
- If the AMI is skewed towards high earners who have retired here or moved here after kids graduated because it’s a lovely place to retire, the people that our organization is attempting to attract are not high earners, but are younger families and so the AMI/current makeup of the community are not representative of what our organization is attempting to attract or cater to.
- What are population projections? What is the 5 year/10 year plan ability to build and fill?
- Clearly this does not meet our expectations and request another draft from HollyAnn
- Allie is part of the target demographic and the prices shows are still too high for her and her husband to consider wanting to do.
- There are new developments in Battle Creek that are very nice and are renting for much less than the forecasted ones
- Concerns that places in Hastings/Middleville are renting for less but with more amenities
- There is a housing shortage period
Strategic Plan
- Getting community input at the Thursday meeting for new and exisiting projects
Need to get ideas flowing for Founders Day Fundraiser
Meeting adjourned at 6:30pm
