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The final Mettowee River Revitalization Strategy meeting will be held Dec. 13 starting at 6 p.m. featuring a presentation of the final product by Elan Planning.
Members of the public are invited to take in the presentation detailing the report that will go to the New York State Department of State as a tool for helping Granville attract grant funding to complete projects cited within the revitalization plan.
“They’ll get an overview of the whole project,” Mayor Jay Niles said of the one-hour meeting.
Niles said the final report residents will see at this meeting is the result of a series of workshops where community members provided input for the consultants regarding what they wanted to see done to improve areas of Granville to make it both a better place to live and a more attractive destination for others to visit or start a business.
“It’s good; it’s really good,” Niles said.
Consultants from Elan will summarize the 39-page final report and present a PowerPoint slideshow.
Upward of 40 residents attended the meetings held since the spring, Niles said, providing a mountain of input that Elan chiseled down to this final product.
The process began with a planning grant, Niles said.
That grant was used to hire Elan, which came to the village and assisted residents and stakeholders with developing a vision for the Granville of the future “for developing a strategy to enhance the Mettowee River, Pember Library and Museum, Slate Valley Museum, the business district and recreation opportunities.”
With the plan on file with the state, Niles said, this should help Granville secure grants to help accomplish the goals outlined in the report from “streetscapes” that include new and improved sidewalks and the creation of bicycle traffic lanes to a concept for Main Street.
Niles said if funds are available for sidewalks, for example, then Granville is already in line to at least request grant money.
The key is showing a focused, detailed vision with particular projects that have local support, Niles said. The report says simply: “Here are the goals and here is how we want to accomplish them,” Niles said.
Central to the plan is the idea of the area surrounding the two museums becoming “a cultural campus” with easy transitions between the two areas and links to other surrounding areas such as the Little League fields and the Mettowee River.
“This really gives you a good idea of what we’re doing,” Niles said.
“What I enjoyed was the community members had the opportunity to give their thoughts on all of the areas in Granville, their strengths and weaknesses, that was used to establish the goals,” Niles said
The consultants from Elan Planning and Development will present the major changes to the final product and the village board is expected to later approve the plan.
See the plan online at the Granville Village website: www.villageofgranville.com along the lower right hand portion of the home page by clicking on “Mettowee River Revitalization Strategy.”
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