Downtown in process of re-developing, mayor says

The attendance by two Oconee County officials at last night’s Walhalla City Council meeting is a sign that the city is getting downtown re-development help thru a new arrangement with the county.  The county is now sharing the services of a planner with both Walhalla and Westminster. In the Walhalla audience were Josh Stephens, deputy director of community development, and Janet Hartman, the county’s manager for Destination Oconee.  Mayor Danny Edwards gave a report on the progress of the city’s new Downtown Development Corporation whose committee, the mayor says, has been meeting since April more frequently than the city council.  The corporation is pursuing three grants, one of which is aimed at creating design standards within the downtown business district and including the nearby Depot buildings and grounds and the former Oconee Courthouse, at which developers are pursuing the possibility of a hotel.  The Downtown Development Corporation has adopted the following vision statement:  “The vision of the Walhalla Downtown Development Corporation (WDDC) is to strengthen and maintain an economically vital, socially active, and visually attractive downtown for Walhalla’s current and future citizens.”  And it has adopted the following mission statement:  “The Walhalla Downtown Development Corporation (WDDC) will work to promote downtown as the place to live, work and shop.  The WDDC will offer support to business and property owners within the district through a variety of programs.”  Edwards said last night there are people interested in locating businesses in the downtown.