Mail Tribune News - Talent council might get urban renewal duties

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Talent council might get urban renewal duties TALENT -- Inactivity and board vacancies are prompting members of the Talent Urban Renewal Agency to consider handing over its duties to the City Council. After completing its last major project in 1996 -- upgrades to Talent Avenue -- the agency has been relatively inactive, leading to minimal citizen participation and difficulty getting a quorum for monthly meetings. Handing the agency's duties over to the council would provide a regular forum for citizen input and when there were no active projects, the council could take care of routine items without calling a special meeting. In cities Talent's size, urban renewal agencies often are part of the city council, said Councilwoman Lisa Shapiro, who also serves on the urban renewal board. "If interest doesn't pick up, I would like to see it happen." But Mayor Marian Telerski -- who has served on the board for nine years -- says the agency has just hit a lull. She said it would be a mistake to dissolve it. "I like that it's separate from the political arena," she said. "We have a budget. We have projects lined up. Sometimes we just don't have a quorum." Telerski hopes interest will be renewed in the next year when the agency is budgeted to begin two big projects -- the reconstruction of New Street and new sidewalks on Main Street from City Hall to the railroad tracks. She also hopes that the agency can convince some of the people who applied for seats on the City Council to serve on the urban renewal board instead. The board consists of three council members, three Talent business owners and three citizens at large. It has two business vacancies and one citizen vacancy.   Mail Tribune Copyright �  The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA