The Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is moving ahead with multiple projects connected to protecting and enhancing the lower Boardman River, as well as an initiative to boost vendor and shopper attendance on Wednesdays at the Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market.

Boardman River Projects
DDA board members approved a $40,000 project Friday that will involve hiring a consultant to help create policies, programs, and projects for the lower urban stretch of the Boardman River.

The contract with SmithGroup – an architectural and engineering firm that has worked on previous Traverse City projects including Your Bay, Your Say and a proposed public pier – will fold previous Boardman River planning efforts into a new public engagement process to create a long-term plan on how to best utilize the downtown waterway. The goal of the project is to “support the health, wellbeing and restoration of the river and river corridor,” according to project documents, and to “support universal access, including access to the river’s robust fishery, to protect the river ecosystem and to recognize and acknowledge the diverse array of perspectives in how the river is valued.”

SmithGroup will help develop “policies, standards, and programs to restore and provide for the long-term improvement and vitality” of the lower Boardman, as well as a system for implementing the desired plan. The project is being spearheaded by the recently created Lower Boardman River Leadership Team, a DDA committee focused on protecting and preserving the river, as well as encouraging the “maximum use and enjoyment” of the Boardman downtown.

SmithGroup was selected through a public request-for-proposals (RFP) process that netted two bids and an ultimate recommendation following an interview process to hire SmithGroup. According to DDA CEO Jean Derenzy, $10,000 of the contract will be paid for with tax increment financing (TIF) 97 funds, while the other $30,000 is targeted to come from grants. Derenzy said she planned to apply to organizations include Rotary Charities and Consumers Energy to hopefully pay for the remainder of the contract. The board’s vote Friday authorized Derenzy to negotiate a contract with SmithGroup, which will come back to board members in the future along with confirmed funding sources for final approval.

DDA board member Harry Burkholder, who also sits on the Lower Boardman River Leadership Team, said the plan creation process with SmithGroup would include a “very comprehensive…civic engagement piece” in 2019 that would allow for plenty of public input on activities community members want to see along the river. The initiative would also dovetail with planning efforts for a proposed $18 million experimental FishPass project at the Union Street Dam, with Burkholder adding there was a “great opportunity to merge those projects to some degree or another.”

Derenzy also updated DDA board members Friday on another Boardman River project underway. Construction officially kicked off December 11 on a long-planned extension of the Boardman riverwalk from the South Union Street bridge to the boundary of Uptown and Riverview Terrace. Pilings work is scheduled to take place Monday thorugh January 18, with construction temporarily shutting down from January 19 to March 22. Work will resume in the spring, with the riverwalk expected to be completed by June 14. The DDA is discussing options for lighting the new riverwalk with Traverse City Light & Power, and is also in talks with the Traverse City Housing Commission – which manages Riverview Terrace – to provide a public connection from the end of the riverwalk up to Pine Street.

Wednesday Farmers Market Changes
The DDA’s Farmers Market Advisory Board is considering changes for the 2019 season to boost vendor and shopper traffic on Wednesday market days.

Board members will discuss options Monday recommended by a programming committee to increase traffic and awareness at the mid-week Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market. According to DDA Events & Projects Coordinator Nick Viox, Wednesday market days average 30-40 vendors – a number that can dip as low as 12, depending on the time of season – compared to 80-85 vendors on Saturdays. “We’re hoping to reach out to an audience that isn’t being reached…and work with community partners to add programming and expand upon the offerings at our Wednesday markets,” Viox says.

Among the options being considered by the board are featuring weekly nonprofits at the Wednesday market that are connected to agriculture and could draw in their constituent groups, such as Taste the Local Difference, MSU Extension, Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, and Crosshatch. The board will also consider allowing food trucks at the farmers market – a change that could extend to both market days – as well as changing the physical structure of the market on Wednesdays. “Often times the most difficult thing with (the) Wednesday market is the layout and how to make it look as engaging as possible,” Viox wrote in a memo to the board. “This committee has a proposed layout that will increase the visibility of vendors, the nonprofits, and the food trucks.”

The Farmers Market Advisory Board previously considered switching Wednesday market hours to evenings instead of mornings, but faced strong resistance from several anchor vendors, who expressed concerns the change would lose them business from key morning customers like CSAs and restaurateurs. Exploring an evening market could still be a possibility for the DDA in the future if the idea had community and vendor support, Viox says.