Batavia gives a bit more to help downtown businesses

Batavia will contribute $4,800 for marketing costs for downtown businesses as the Wilson Street bridge project comes to a close.

City council members voted 10-2 in favor of the measure on Monday night.

Proponents said it was an extension of a program aimed at helping downtown businesses that ended in December when the bridge was supposed to be finished. City officials had said it would be a good gesture to show business owners they understood the hardships the construction had brought.

Officials now estimate the bridge will be finished in late April or early May.

The program will include coupon mailers sent to households, advertising and downtown events. Businesses would incur the costs of the coupon discounts.

Officials reasoned that a coordinated marketing effort would be more effective than individual businesses trying to get the word out that bridge construction was near its end.

Aldermen Forrest Nelson and Eldon Frydendall voted against the plan.

Frydendall said the money should have been spent on something more concrete and questioned the plan's effectiveness.

"I feel like the people who will benefit the most are the people in advertising," he said.

City staff had originally proposed a $20,000 budget for the project, which some council members had questioned. After getting a more optimistic view of when the bridge would be completed, they lowered the proposal.