Streetscape Passes Council, Goes Full Steam Ahead

The large-scale project to revitalize downtown got a unanimous vote of approval Monday from the Batavia City Council.

Council members voted 14-0 in favor of the Downtown Streetscape Plan. Mayor Jeff Schielke said that this is a real vote of confidence from the Council.

“This unanimous approval sends a clear and concise message that the City Council is behind this project,” Schielke said.

John MacManus of Altamanu, Inc. gave a condensed presentation on the Streetscape Framework Plan to the Council and indicated that it is a “document that provides the feel of downtown” and is also a “guide for future projects.” Altamanu is the landscape architecture firm putting the overall vision of Streetscape together.

After the presentation there wasn’t much discussion by the Council on the plan. The Council and the Streetscape Committee have publicly discussed the plan over several hours worth of meetings that began earlier this year.

Alderman Dave Brown indicated that although the Council approved the Streetscape plan, a final approval document drafted by City staff and Altamanu will be presented to the Council on June 6.

The Community Development Committee will discuss Streetscape priorities at their next meeting. Committee members will decide which area of downtown is the most important and therefore should undergo streetscape improvements first.

City staff will continue to narrow down engineers to work with Altamanu based on the Request for Qualifications they received and will begin interviewing firms.

For more details on the Streetscape Plan, click .

The Council on Monday also took a vote on the chicken ordinance. To read more about that, click .