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BUCHANAN — Buchanan City Commissioners believe the best way to pursue participation in the Michigan Main Street program is to revive the Downtown Development Authority that they disbanded in 2020.

Mayor Pro-Tem Mark Weedon announced at Monday’s city commission meeting that commissioners are asking city staff to investigate how much it will cost and how long it will take to revive and re-establish the DDA. Staff were asked to bring back information as soon as the commission’s next meeting on Sept. 9.

Commissioner Dan Vigansky had been pushing to resurrect the DDA for the last several months. He noted Monday that he doesn’t think it should take that much money or time to get the ball rolling on actually doing it. He asked that Community Development Director Rich Murphy act as the city point person on the DDA project.

“I think we already have some of the information we need, we just have to tweak it,” he said. “There’s been estimates that it could cost $20,000 to $30,000 to start from the beginning and we don’t have to do that.”

The idea of bringing back the DDA started to gain steam last month and earlier this month even as commissioners talked about providing funding to the LiveBuchanan non-profit organization so that it would qualify to go to the next level of the Michigan Main Street program.

Commissioners had initially planned to vote on funding LiveBuchanan and supporting its participation in Michigan Main Street at Monday’s meeting but that vote was put on hold after Assistant Community Development Director Ashley Regal unexpectedly resigned earlier this month.

Monday, Weedon acknowledged he had been “misled” four years ago when he voted to disband the DDA and now wants to bring it back. The DDA was the subject of controversy in the months before it was disbanded in the summer of 2020, with questions about its value to the city and disputes between city officials and DDA members.

Weedon and City Commissioner Patrick Swem said Monday that it isn’t an “either/or” situation as they think the DDA and LiveBuchanan can both exist and be beneficial to promoting economic development in the city.

“LiveBuchanan has established its credibility and ability to work together,” Weedon said. “Bringing back the DDA gives them a structure to do their work.”

“It’s not a diversion away from LiveBuchanan but a longer term solution,” Swem agreed. “The DDA will provide the mechanism to fund what LiveBuchanan wants to do.”

“The money (from the former DDA) is still in our coffers and will be given back to the DDA once it is recreated,” Weedon added. He and other commissioners noted that it will take time for the DDA to build up new funding as a new baseline has to be established to start capturing tax increment financing from property value increases in the downtown area.

He said after the meeting that the goal is to have LiveBuchanan as an official city board under the DDA umbrella. He noted that the consensus from city commissioners is to use the DDA format to provide funding for LiveBuchanan to pursue the Michigan Main Street program.

Weedon is acting as mayor after the resignation of Sean Denison two weeks ago and will serve in that capacity until after the November election when commissioners will vote to appoint a new mayor to serve for the next two years.

Monday, commissioners officially accepted Denison’s resignation which was effective Aug. 12. Denison had served on the city commission since 2018 and had been mayor since late 2020. He said he was choosing to resign to focus on his health and his family and to enjoy life.

He had been the subject of a recall election over his suspension of then City Manager Ben Eldridge last fall. His resignation ended the recall election in which he would have faced former City Commissioner Scott King in November.

Swem and Weedon said Monday that Denison’s decision to resign had come as a surprise to them. They both thanked Denison for his efforts and the time he put in to serve the community.

“I’ve been on the commission for six years with Sean, we’ve been through good and bad times and had disagreements,” Weedon said.

He signaled that he hoped to take a little different approach to city commission meetings. “I believe we can have discourse and still be respectful,” he said. “I lead from a different position. I will not get heated and I will not raise my voice.”

City Clerk Kalla Langston reminded people that the deadline to apply for the vacancy left by Denison’s resignation is Friday, Aug. 30 at 4 p.m. She said one person has applied so far. Applicants must city residents, registered voters and over the age of 18. The application form is available at city hall or on the city website.

Langston said a special city commission meeting will be held Friday, Sept. 6 at 5 p.m. to interview candidates for the position. Whoever is appointed will serve the remaining two years of Denison’s unexpired term.

In other news, Buchanan Tree Friends member Richard Martin said there will be a tree planting event in the city on Oct. 19 after the group received a grant. He said 25 trees will be planted in the 100 to 800 blocks of West Front and the 100 block of Dewey Street.