Chelsea Connection Report to Council 1.11.11

City Council Meeting Report
January 11, 2011

I am here tonight as a representative of The Chelsea Connection Team to provide you with a progress report on our effort to save the buildings of the Longworth Complex. The following are some activities that we have focused on:

1)  The Michigan Historic Preservation Network is making final arrangements for two workshops that will be held in March of this year.  The purpose of these workshops is to inform business owners and others of tax credits and grant opportunities available, not only to the businesses within the newly designated “National Register of Historic Places” area, but other business owners as well.  We are hoping that some of these same grants and tax credits may be used to assist with the restoration and eventual occupancy of the Longworth Buildings.  MHPN has made verbal agreements with the Chelsea District Library, the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce and the Chelsea DDA to partner in these workshops.  John Hanifan has also said that the City supports the concept of these workshops.
2) We have nearly completed our resource list of grant money and tax credits that are
available to any interested parties to assist with the repair and restoration of their own historic buildings as well as the Longworth Buildings. This list will be made available at our workshops as well as to any other interested parties.

3) We have provided information to Mike Jackson and Mark Heydlauff about financial credits and incentives for the new accessibility project being undertaken by the DDA. These monies are available through the Americans with Disabilities Act Tax Incentive Program.

4) We have formed a subcommittee to finalized the details for our event to celebrate the
designation of downtown Chelsea on the National Register of Historic Places. This is a significant honor for our town, and we want to make sure that the event is well publicized and attended by all those involved. We have been told that the official designation should occur in either late February or early March of this year.

5) We continue to be in conversation with a resident and business owner in Chelsea who has expressed interest in purchasing the Longworth Complex for development.

6) Recently we were contacted by an existing successful business owner in Chelsea who would like to move their operation into downtown Chelsea, and in particular the Longworth Complex, within the next two years.

7) We continue to attend every DDA meetings to keep updated on anything that is being proposed for the Longworth Complex.

This completes our report. If there are any questions, I or other members of the team would be happy to answer them for you.