Efforts to get a Main Street designation for Downtown Knox have gotten the official support of the city council. During their last meeting of 2020, council members agreed to partner with Knox Main Street United.
Mayor Dennis Estok explained that it’s a nonprofit group set up to get the designation from the state and develop the downtown. “I know we’ve got a really good group going, so far,” he said. “I think, last meeting, there was about 15 in the room, three on Zoom or something like that, about 18. So we’ve got a lot of good people to get this done. It is very extreme, isn’t it? I mean, there’s a lot to do to get the application in. I think once the application is done, a little bit of pressure will be off, and then I think the fun part will start.”
A Main Street designation would make the city eligible for additional grants and other outside help for downtown redevelopment. Estok said the resolution doesn’t commit the city to anything, but it does say the city may offer financial and planning assistance.
He added that group still needs letters of support from the public, to make the application successful. “I can tell you right now, you need it from all the main [organizations], you know, development, chamber, and all of that, but you’ve also got to have a lot of the public that is supporting this, just to show there’s interest in it. And, believe me, there is.”
In other business, the city council approved thousands of dollars of transfers within the General Fund, to help close out the 2020 budget. That included more than $9,300 into a Personal Protective Equipment line item in the Fire Department’s budget.
