By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green is making a big deal out of shopping small this holiday season.
After the prolonged construction downtown, which made it inconvenient for shoppers and diners to patronize some small businesses, the city is hoping local residents head downtown for some holiday shopping.
The construction is nearly complete – with the lanes open to travel, the parking spots lined, and the orange cones and barricades making fewer appearances.
So at the Bowling Green City Council meeting Monday evening, Mayor Dick Edwards declared Nov. 30 as “Small Business Saturday” in the city. Nationwide, the day celebrates the value of local small businesses and their contributions to the economy.
The day has a special meaning this year, Edwards said, after the dry spell suffered by many downtown businesses during the construction.
“Shop small Saturday is a huge deal for downtown businesses,” said Tony Vetter, head of Downtown BG.
The toll on the downtown has been so great that later in Monday’s meeting, when council member Bruce Jeffers praised the work of city crews fixing a ruptured waterline on Sunday near the corner of Enterprise and East Wooster streets, Public Works Director Brian Craft responded with “I was just glad it was there and not downtown.”
The holiday festivities downtown will begin Friday with the tree lighting at the library at 7 p.m., followed by the holiday parade on Saturday starting around 9:50 a.m. The parade, which will feature 100 units including nine bands and 20 floats, will be broadcast live on Channel 11.
Also at the meeting, students from the Sleek Academy presented their idea for the First Robotics Lego League, a worldwide competition. Gage Bierhup and Izaac Gump showed their proposal to solve the community problem of cold weather keeping people inside during the winter.
They described their idea for portable warming huts that would give people a space to warm up as they are walking in the community. “That’s a very practical solution to a very real problem,” Council President Mike Aspacher said to the students.
In other business:
- Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter reported that recycling contract proposals are due on Nov. 20.
- Craft noted that the leaf collection had been delayed by last week’s snow, but had started on Monday.
- Council approved a resolution allowing the mayor to seek financial assistance from the Clean Ohio Conservation Program Fund. The funding would be used to purchase property contiguous to Wintergarden/St. John’s Woods.
- Council voted to allow the public utilities director to enter into a property purchase agreement with Ross Family Farms. The 40.59 acres at the southwest corner of Poe and Carter roads, will allow the Wood Bridge industrial park to expand to the east.
