The revitalized Cultivators Cabinet, now called Community Connections, gathered for its inaugural meeting Thursday at the Wall Family Center to discuss Neighbor Revitalization. Sontana Johnson, Amanda Head and Lauren Shepard are leading the new group. The cabinet was set up as part of the city’s comprehensive planning process. It was to be run by residents to give citizens a forum to voice their thoughts on a variety of topics. This is a goal of the revitalized group as well. The original group lost momentum, so Johnson, Head and Shepard hope to keep the conversation fresh and bring in more voices from the community and the city’s four wards. On Thursday, Jim Zaleski, the city’s economic development director, spoke about Neighborhood Revitalization, a program offered to commercial and industrial businesses and homeowners outside of the floodplain. Neighborhood Revitalization can allow homeowners and businesses to save on property taxes for a period of time for improvements that raise the appraised value of a home or commercial or industrial building.
Source: Parsons Sun
