Making Town Center grow

Committee solicits public input at meeting tonight Vernon’s Town Center Advisory Committee is holding a public meeting about the future of the town Center for the communities of Highland Lakes, Barry Lakes and Lake Wanda on Thursday, Aug. 13 at 7 p.m. at Highland Lakes Clubhouse. The Committee will present build-out scenarios for the Center’s vacant properties and will provide an update on the project. The Vernon Town Center project will celebrate another milestone as a new business sets up residence in the Vernon Town Center. Real Estate Consultants will occupy a state of the art office building on Church Street, located at the heart of the Town Center across from the Vernon Municipal Center. “Vernon is beginning to see trickle effects of all the hard work that has gone into creating the Town Center and we at Real Estate Consultants are really proud to be among the first new businesses in the area,” said Doug Radford, president of the firm. The Town Center project has a long history. In 1998 an effort initiated by the Vernon Chamber of Commerce began a process to establish a pedestrian friendly downtown area that residents could call their “town center.” The groundwork was laid for the planning and infrastructure improvements including a new “loop” road and sewer to service high density development. The concept is in line with the State Master Plan because it allows for higher density in the center as a means of maintaining open spaces elsewhere. The Vernon Economic Development Advisory Committee has assumed the task of selective attraction of new businesses and retention of Vernon’s current businesses, all being done through volunteer efforts, according to Mary Emilius, a member of the Committee. She and other committee members were appointed by the Town Council after they responded to an inquiry sent out by Mayor Austin Carew, who wanted to create a body that represented a cross-section of Vernon residents. In addition to Emilius, the committee includes Jim Schriner, Carol Williams, Sally Rinker, Jean Murphy, Dick Wetzel, Jack Smith, Pat Seger, Councilman Valerie Seufert and Mayor Austin Carew. Schriner and Emilius are co-chairs of the committee; Sally Rinker is the group’s secretary. The combination of economic development expertise and business insight among committee members is extensive. Several are local business owners. Improving the business environment “The main task of the committee at this point is to work with Vernon’s existing businesses and work at improving the business environment in Vernon,” Schriner said. “To this end we are meeting with many of the business owners in order to better understand their needs and get their insight and suggestions for improvement of the business climate in Vernon. We encourage any business owner that has ideas for improvement to reach out to someone on the committee.” Shriner added that the committee intends to see the Town Center and its Main Street grow to be a thriving hub of the Vernon business community. Their “long-range task,” he said, “will be to fill Vernon’s Main Street and establish a Town Center for the residents and visitors to enjoy, as well as filling the many empty commercial spaces available in the Town. As the administration grapples with final infrastructure details of the Town Center, the committee will be working on making Vernon a first-class choice for site locaters and entrepreneurs.” Schriner points out that: “The number one motivation for site location is quality of life for the employees of a company,” and he said that Vernon has that matter sewn up. “Vernon truly is a great place to locate a business and the 27,000 people that live here would welcome the chance to get out of their cars and work and shop locally,” he said.