Meet Trenton’s Fledgling Downtown Development Authority

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

For over a year, the City of Trenton Board of Commissioners worked to reestablish the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), and the fledgling board is at last getting off the ground. So far, the board has met three times. The meetings are on the second Tuesday of every month at 10 a.m. at City Hall.

The DDA spent the first quarter of this year figuring out bylaws and procedures. Next up, they’ll establish a short-term plan for the rest of 2025, a long-term plan, and identify grants to pursue.

The DDA’s founding members are:

• Monda Wooten (as both a city commissioner and owner of Discount Flooring)
• Larry Moore (owner of Moore Funeral Home)
• Dr. Stephanie Lawson (owner of Lawson Medical Practice)
• Ryan Faircloth (owner of The Groovy Nomad and a real estate investor/builder)
• Careyee Bell (partner with Bellora Realtors)
• Wesley Bethune (of Wesley Bethune Team realty)
• Cheryl McGee (owner of Ann-Other Flower Shop)
• Marci Blevins (recording secretary as an employee of the city)

A couple of members will soon be leaving the board, but replacements are already being discussed.

Sandy White (Alliance for Dade president and CEO) and Evan Stone (Dade County director of economic development) have been guiding the young board through standard board procedures.

At the DDA’s April 8 meeting (the third meeting), the team elected officers. Wooten endorsed Bethune for board chair, and all agreed. Faircloth was chosen as vice chair, and Moore agreed to be the secretary treasurer.

The board also adopted an official DDA district which essentially follows the Trenton city limits. This is now considered the downtown area, and it is where the DDA will focus on improvements, aesthetics, and acquiring grants to support local businesses.

The board heard from Ken Clark of Hawkinsville, Ga., a city commissioner who also serves on the Hawkinsville DDA (not unlike Wooten’s role as the city’s representative on Trenton’s DDA). Clark also owns property in downtown Hawkinsville. He’s been in the position our DDA is now in, and he’s seen positive change come from the DDA, so he shared some of his advice.

According to Clark, Hawkinsville’s downtown was in bad shape a decade ago, but in the ten years since, the city revived its DDA which started by painting some of the old buildings to spark interest. Next, the board then acquired a facade grant.

The town’s monthly sales tax revenue went up from about $35,000 to $58,000. Keep in mind that some of that will have been caused by inflation, but Clark said, “That’s a good way for you to approach the city council to get some money is to show them the return on the investment.”

The Hawkinsville DDA was able to use rural tax credits to improve downtown buildings, and White noted that our DDA will be applying for these credits. Clark explained that for a business to make use of these credits, it must create two new full-time jobs.

Clark’s personal business renovated five properties, and the DDA purchased an old building and thoroughly restored it using a bank loan. The DDA is now leasing it to a new business at a discounted rate for two years while the business gets on its feet. The DDA is making up the difference, but eventually, the building will be a revenue stream for the DDA. Also, at least twelve other property owners have renovated their buildings in the last three years, and five are in the works.

Clark recommended using Renaissance Strategic Vision and Plan to create a strategic plan. He said this costs about $60,000, but Hawkinsville felt it was worth the money. He said their DDA has accomplished all of the short-term goals that came from that plan, and they’ve nearly completed all of the long-term goals.

The lengthy brochure is an interesting read with before and after visuals and can be accessed online at issuu.com/rsvpstudio/docs/hawkinsville_rsvp_full_report.

Clark added that the DDA is currently working with the Georgia Department of Transportation on a streetscape project that will improve the look of the town while also slowing down traffic and creating a pedestrian-friendly downtown. The town is switching from four lanes to two lanes plus a turning lane and bike lanes in both directions.

Bethune asked Clark what advice he’d give to DDA’s that are just getting started. Clark said, “We all have those people who like to be on boards but don’t like to work,” so he recommended finding board members who have a vested interest in the downtown area.

He also recommended communicating and working with the city because “it’s like everything else in the world—without money, you can’t get anything done.”

White asked for advice on dealing with property owners who are difficult to work with or don’t want to improve their buildings. Clark said Hawkinsville has worked with its code enforcement officer and strengthened building codes for the historic district. The city now bans dilapidated buildings. “Either they fix them up, or they start paying hefty property taxes.”

White added that one difficulty Hawkinsville faced was out-of-town property owners who wouldn’t improve their properties. Clark said it’s decreased from twelve down to just one building owned by an out-of-towner.

Stone asked if the DDA presented a theme/design aesthetic for the historic district that businesses needed to follow to qualify for aid. Clark said they do have a historical color chart for the facade grant. “We’re not going to approve anything pink with yellow polka dots or anything like that. We’re careful about what colors we do use.”

Clark wrapped up by encouraging Trenton’s DDA to look for grants. “With the federal government budget cuts, the grants have dried up from what they were, but I look for them to start coming back towards the first of the year.”

The board tentatively approved bylaws based on changes discussed at the meeting. These edits will be made before the May meeting.

For example, a conflict of interest agreement will be added. Faircloth asked what exactly this entails, and White gave the example that if the DDA were ever to vote on purchasing the Groovy Nomad, Faircloth would have to abstain from voting due to the conflict of interest.

Another addition is a provision allowing the DDA to set up committees that can include community members who aren’t on the board. Stone noted that they may find the need to establish an events committee, citing the Honeybee Festival in Lafayette, Ga., that is put on by their DDA.

Wooten noted that the bylaws should contain a provision that if a DDA member misses a certain number of consecutive meetings, that member will be replaced. All agreed that this should be added, and they agreed to add term limits to the bylaws.

The board listed items to discuss at the May meeting: Draft a plan for the rest of 2025, draft a long-term plan, identify grants to pursue, and pursue a facade grant. Of the facade grant which (would help local businesses improve their exterior aesthetics), Wooten said, “That’s low-hanging fruit. We can get on it right away.” Stone suggested that the board request copies of the city’s zoning laws and signage laws to help them prepare for facade improvements.