Hamlet’s newest retail business opens to customers today, but town council members still faced criticism Wednesday for not doing more to encourage development. Council President Dave Kesvormas announced that Dollar General opens today.
“They’ve asked us to let them work their kinks out, as they say, get used to everybody in place, and then they said probably within the next 30 days or so, when the weather warms up and there’s not as much snow, we’ll do a ribbon cutting, town welcoming ceremony, and involve the fire department, police department, and town officials,” Kesvormas said during Wednesday’s council meeting. “We’ll announce that at a later date. And the chamber of commerce, as well, and any other business owners that want to attend and any other residents that want to attend.”
Kesvormas has made it clear that it’s a big deal. For years, Hamlet officials have been hoping the town’s location on U.S. 30 would attract retail businesses as well as new housing. A couple years ago, Kesvormas publicly set a goal of adding 22 houses by 2022. Now, the town is seeing its first new home construction in several years.
But during Wednesday’s meeting, local resident and homebuilder Frank Lonigro questioned whether the town had actually done anything to encourage that. “’22’s coming quick, and I haven’t seen you do nothing since you set this goal,” Lonigro told Kesvormas. “Oh, it’s great. Don’t get me wrong, but it’s nothing the town’s done. I mean, if you’re going to set a goal, it seems like you’ve got to have a plan. I mean, you have nothing to back that plan up.”
For his part, Kesvormas said he’s doing some research into the potential influx of residents from Illinois. “We’re working on a design,” he added. “I’m working on some other bullet points. We’ve got some information that has just come to light with the addition of what’s coming from the South Shore. We wanted to put those factors into it because that’s going to be a big thing for this area coming soon.”
But Lonigro argued that the town’s appearance continues to be a major barrier to bringing in new residents. “We’ve got four people who came in really interested in buying, and then they drive around,” he said. “And it’s things you can fix, easy. I mean, there’s ordinances. There’s laws. It’s just enforcing it. And you could have a very nice town.”
Wednesday’s discussion went on for more than 30 minutes, touching on a variety of topics in the process, including Hamlet’s lack of a building inspector, recent road and sidewalk upgrades, and the town’s relationship with the Starke County Economic Development Foundation.
