Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter – News Analyst
June 11, 2020
While business has been anything but usual in downtown Fernandina Beach since the Covid-19 crisis began in March, Fernandina Beach Main Street (FBMS) has been hard at work helping local businesses survive the crisis. Main Street’s Executive Director Arlene Filkoff updated the Fernandina Beach City Commission (FBCC) on efforts underway to help local businesses at the June 2, 2020 FBCC Regular Meeting.
The state Main Street program recently approved an application from Fernandina Beach Main Street to expand its boundaries to include businesses along 8th Street south to Lime Street and east on Atlantic Avenue to take in businesses on the corner of 14th Street. This expansion previously was approved by the FBCC. As a result, FBMS has been tooling up to serve the expanded area.
Main Street has been serving as an information conduit between local businesses and all the sometimes confusing information emanating from state and federal agencies regarding help available to small businesses during the pandemic. They coordinated a forum between business people and the Small Business Development Center experts on the CARES Act. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a law intended to address the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
Marketing efforts have continued, as well as business and consumer confidence surveys.
Working with the City of Fernandina Beach, FBMS has brought more picnic tables downtown to provide more opportunity for outdoor dining. The city, at Main Street’s request, has implemented a temporary use application for use of the right-of-way by downtown businesses while continuing to ensure ADA compliance.
Main Street facilitated an agreement between the Council on Aging and three downtown restaurants to provide meals for the Boots on the Ground and Meals on Wheels programs.
They also helped a business forced to move during the pandemic to find a new business location.
Looking toward the future, Main Street is planning new events to celebrate the reopening of downtown as well as fundraising activities.
In the fourth quarter, Main Street will intensify marketing and training efforts, reaching out to businesses in the expanded district.
Island Stock concert will be rescheduled on the waterfront, and the Pajama Party on Black Friday will return.
Main Street costs the taxpayers $40,000 per year, plus funds for City staffers assistance, and ancillary costs. Some estimates are that the actual costs are much higher.
Do the taxpayers consider a few benches and flower pots worth that?
ALL the work done by Main Street thus far, could have been done by a City staffer, at NO COST.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Yet, the City is happy to pay an ex-City commissioner for this effort. The work is then off the books, and non-accountable. Very convenient.
This is just another way that the City throws our money at feel-good projects that are not asked for, nor needed by the residents.
Consider the fact that now, the Main Street program is expanding its scope from originally being designed to help blighted downtowns. Fernandina Beach’s downtown simply is not blighted, nor was it when Main Street showed up on the scene.
If one will just drive down the newly designated Main Street responsibility: 8th Street, you will see that over the past few years, there has been an amazing transformation. New buildings going up, old building being removed, replaced, and renovated. All this is from the private sector, at no cost to the taxpayers.
So, Main Street comes in now, as all the revival is occurring naturally, by private risk-takers, and decides to ‘save the day’.
Main Street has been yet another drain on the City’s resources when it’s time to conserve.
Know this: the expansion of Main Street’s duties will not come as a free gift to all the happy residents. This will cost more money, add more layers of government control over private property, and cause yet more property owners to jump through hoops to get things done.
Once secure in it’s upcoming funding, certainly there will be another expansion of responsibilities, that’s how these programs work, right?
Private property owners, working directly with City officials is enough to ask, isn’t it?
Look, all the people that work with Main Street are wonderful and well-intended. There is no question that they appreciate the town as much as all the rest of us. But can we please take the personalities out of this debate, remove the emotional drive for control of downtown, and focus on the value of our tax dollars? This is redundant work, the City should be doing this with current staff, but they prefer to pay a State organization?
What is really going on here?
Perhaps Common Cents, and other concerned taxpayers should look at the actual cost of this optional State program.
In fact, maybe it’s time to DEFUND MAIN STREET.
I know you won’t publish this. But you should at least read it. Lots of your readers feel this way.
Since it seems there might be a lack of understanding about the Main Street program and its mission, perhaps you would be willing to talk. I love sharing what it’s all about with anyone who really wants to understand it. Please feel free to send an email to [email protected] so we can set up a time to talk.
Hi Arlene, could you author an article for publication for all to read and understand, from your perspective? Thanks
I will certainly do that. We have also held public events to introduce folks to what Main Street is all about and hope to do so again once we can all get together again.