Economic Development Committee

Lone Rock Economic Development Committee Q1 Meeting Notes Monday, March 25, 2024 at 6:00 PM in the Village Office Conference Room, 314 E Forest St. Members Present: Mary Litviak (Chair); Pat Christianson, Sandy Creasey, Dan McGuire, Dan Quinn, Christa Quinn and Brad Seymour. TIF/TID Application Update • Application is still in progress and is expected to be approved by the DOR by April, 2024 • Joint Review Board will oversee the TID’s progress over the next 20 years. Board consists of 4 members and Dan Quinn (Lone Rock President) will serve as Chairman. • Shawna Marquardt (MATC) • Jeffrey Even (Richland County) • Kathy Jennings (River Valley School District) • Brad Seymour (Lone Rock citizen-at-large) • The application schedule is on course and only a few meetings remain • Driftless Realty is our designated realtor • Lone Rock village board approved project plan at the March 12 board meeting • Boundary map was also approved River Valley Housing Coalition – Mary is on the Executive Committee and has a vote on behalf of Lone Rock. The committee met just before this meeting at the Spring Green Library. • Lone Rock is among a group of local, municipal leaders who are interested in incorporating new housing development opportunities that spans the entire community. • Recently updated the organization’s charter • Rich Judge has been hired as the coalition’s new project manager. His task will be to work with Vierbicher to create a ‘comprehensive housing plan’ for all of RV. • Vierbicher Associates has been hired to do the analysis and data gathering to form an overall strategy and next steps in planning process 4th of July Celebration – The event is planned this year for Thursday, July 4. The committee has pledged to buy a new outside sign for the community building. Mary will send out requests for quotes after putting together a drawing of about how it should look. Memorial walkway – It’s important that we don’t lose sight of things we can do along the memorial walkway, now that the memorial entrance has been erected. Some ideas were class benches or tables along the way that could recognize the different classes with nice lighting. In July, the Historical Society will be hosting a dedication for the memorial. Mary will take photos at the event and do a write-up for the village website about the importance of the walkway to Lone Rock’s history and include images. The Lone Rock Economic Development Committee is a group of community volunteers, made up of citizens, community leaders and business owners who focus on coming together to discuss ideas and make recommendations about how to make Lone Rock become a better place to live, visit and work.  Farmers Market – Active discussion about having a farmers market in the center perhaps as soon as this year! • Christa talked to some local merchants recently and she asked them if they’d be interested in selling in our village and all of them were interested in participating. • Dan suggested plotting sites with ground markers to make booth set-up easier. 10’ x 10’ sites can be set up on both sides of the sidewalk and will accommodate a lot of sites. • Can also look at options to include more parking along the park. • To staff the farmers market: There was a suggestion that a program be set up where local not-for-profits can sign up to supervise the market for the day, in exchange for a stipend that can be contributed to their organization. • Income and Expenses: No suggestion yet on site fees and no particular day of the week was discussed at this time. But there was a suggestion that any costs associated with a program like this could be managed by the VOLR Parks Committee to cover costs like weekly supervisor payments and porta potty services. Comprehensive Plan Review: Housing – Regular review of the comprehensive plan helps us to engage in discussions about where we need to go and ideas on how to get there: • Brad pointed out that on page 25, under Housing Strategies & Actions, Strategy 1 raises concerns: 1) the point that allows up to four residences per parcel if no restrictions exist and 2) permits for Accessory Dwelling Units by right. • One mention was that at the time of the draft process, during the writing of the comprehensive plan, there was no solid direction in place yet on how new parcels would be set in the open properties. The Planning and Zoning Commission can help lead in setting at these long-range plans for development in Lone Rock. • It was decided to continue the housing discussion at the next meeting. For next time, the agenda will include an update on the TIF/TID project plan and continue our review of comprehensive plan’s housing objectives for 2024. The Q2 meeting date has been set for Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at 6 PM at the village office. Meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM. Notes by Mary Litviak The Lone Rock Economic Development Committee is a group of community volunteers, made up of citizens, community leaders and business owners who focus on coming together to discuss ideas and make recommendations about how to make Lone Rock become a better place to live, visit and work.