Finances and Letters Dominate the DDA

Amid the Downtown Development Authority’s Treasury and Budget discussions, the Board voiced growing concerns over finances.

Reporting they were originally told $35,000, the DDA reported a severely cut budget of $10,985. Having no budget and no director has put severe stress on the Authority as they reported several projects and plans would be crippled and impossible to complete without more support. While they have received success raising additional funds through events such as the Come Play in Ellijay Golf Tournament and selling of plaques and tags for the boardwalk, the funds are not comparable to original planned budget and ideas of SPLOST dollars that were originally anticipated by the Authority. They will be looking to speak closer with the City Council moving forward to inquire further about this issue.

Amid these issues, the DDA is still looking to support and further the causes of its downtown entities as they considered opportunities to help publicize and promote requests from the Tabor House and Gilmer ARTS. However, the common theme came from the council saying, “We can promote it, not fund it.”

In the final moments of their meeting, the DDA decided to draft a letter in support of the City Council’s talks with Speaker David Ralston and the DOT to get Semi-Truck Traffic off of River Street downtown. Letters from both entities will go before Ralston to seek support as they request the closing of River Street to through traffic in an effort to remove both chicken trucks from the street and heavy Semi-Trucks that could pose a threat to the vehicles parked along the side of the road.