Casey Trejo said the Main Street board of directors will meet next week to discuss what steps to take moving forward.

The president of the El Reno Main Street Board, Trejo attended the city council meeting Tuesday evening.

She said it might be time for Main Street as well as the City of El Reno to take “a step back” and consider what is in the best interest of the downtown at this point in time. 

The council agenda included “discussion, consideration, action and/or possible amendments regarding a memorandum of understanding between the City of El Reno and El Reno Main Street.”

City Manager Matt Sandidge said the city and Main Street leaders had met after Main Street had requested a subsidy of $50,000 from the city. Council tabled that request at the September meeting after the city offered the program a $30,000 subsidy. 

Sandidge said the meetings with the Main Street leadership were intended to “find common ground” and he said the city and Main Street were “not that far apart.”

He told the council Main Street had “retracted” its request from the city and so no action was necessary on the item at the Tuesday meeting. 

Trejo did not address the issue until Vice Mayor David Black asked her to. He said since she was in the audience, it would be good to know exactly what Main Street wants from the city. 

“How can we help,” Black asked Trejo. He said Main Street should be “the champion” for downtown El Reno. 

Trejo asked what the city envisions for the downtown. She said with the high vacancy rate, more than 30 percent, Main Street leaders know it will take more than events to draw investors to the downtown. 

She said the board realizes it cannot do events and economic vitality efforts with the subsidy proposed by the city. 

Trejo said Main Street desires to be “good stewards” of the taxpayer money it receives and the current leadership understands the program, “just like the city,” cannot do all things. She said partnerships need to be created that have all parties working on the “same page.”

Trejo said the Main Street approach is more suited to working in a downtown that is flourishing. She said until downtown El Reno changes, events alone will not deliver the kinds of investments needed to bring the area back. 

Mayor Steve Jensen agreed, saying there are a number of building owners who are not interested in seeing their properties occupied with businesses.

He said they are using the buildings for storage. Jensen said there’s very little the city can do unless there is a code violation of health and safety concern found out about those properties. 

Council member Amy Neathery said, according to its social media site, Main Street has “released” the Christmas Parade. The city and Chamber of Commerce as well as a new group related to Route 66 announced it would be organizing the upcoming parade.

Neathery asked if Main Street would also be “releasing” Burger Day.

That’s when Trejo said the Main Street board would be meeting in the coming week to discuss its future. 

Jensen praised Main Street for the progress it has made in the past two years. He said Trejo and the current Main Street leadership inherited a mess when they came on board. Trejo said the program now has insurance and its bank statement is in the black. 

“We’ve made progress,” she said. 

Jensen said the progress made is evident. He said sometimes people want progress sooner than it actually happens.