Council hears results from Downtown Task Force

(ABC 6 News) – The Rochester city council heard some early results of their downtown Rochester task force Monday evening.

The goal is to bring people and businesses back into downtown after the area was hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The businesses are suffering and the kids don’t have a place to go so I’m anxious, anxious and eager to see how this comes together,” said councilmember Kelly Kirkpatrick.

Some specific action items the task force would like to see the city tackle include improving access to public parking- making downtown easier to navigate by adding maps.

Other items include improving the permit process for new businesses — more specifically clarifying the process to make it easier for businesses to get started and to improve communication with businesses about the impacts construction projects will have on them.