The Main Deck opened its doors to Steelville Forward members on July 7 for its monthly meeting to discuss downtown revitalization and other ongoing projects in town.

The Main Deck owner, Marilyn Lakaner, who’s also a member of Steelville Forward, was joined at the meeting by about 10 group members along with Steelville mayor Duane DeRennaux and Ward 2 Alderman Jason Ward. The meeting spanned over an hour and the discussion revolved around what can be done to draw tourists who usually drive through to a floating destination, to stop and shop in downtown Steelville.

Steelville Forward member Tamra Cape began the meeting by expressing her gratitude for the group’s members, and their mission going forward.

“Ya’ll are the people who love Steelville and that’s what we’re all about,” said Cape.

The group then asked DeRennaux to talk about the status of the South Spring Street Bridge, which is currently closed to cars. DeRennaux updated the group on the current state of the bridge and his goals for the future of it.

“Right now, it’s being engineered,” he said. “We will be replacing the main deck on there. The deck is the only thing basically that failed inspections for usage. The abutments underneath are wide enough to expand the width, and we had our two sets of engineers looking at it already.” DeRennaux said that there isn’t a current timeline for the bridge, but the bridge will eventually be constructed to have a traffic lane for cars and a separate lane for walking and biking. He added that the new bridge is necessary to help parking and traffic flow in the area.

“We do have to have the traffic flow. As you know, if you go down the road as it is now in front of the duck pond, we have an issue with parking, let alone driving through there,” said DeRennaux. “And you have school buses that go through there, you have cemetery traffic and funerals, you have the traffic from the church, and then there’s a couple dozen houses out on Church Road there, so we have to have that bridge to relieve some of that traffic.”

Following the update on the bridge, the conversation shifted to a discussion about the numerous empty businesses on Main Street.

Cape asked DeRennaux if it’s possible to get a city ordinance passed that would forbid business owners from using their storefront as storage.

“You know, we could go down and talk about this with our city attorney, and he’s gonna tell you it’s their store, their property,” DeRennaux said. “If there would be some sort of safety issue or something like that, I can see. But you’re going to be getting into the weeds when you start telling people what they can do with their business. It’s just like the bowling alley, they bought the bowling alley, and it’s just a storage facility, that’s all that is now.”

One member of the Steelville Forward mentioned the decaying appearance of some businesses as a potential reason for a fine or removal of said business.

“You could say something possibly about appearances, possibly, but still, even there, you’re really going to ruffle a lot of feathers. I’m just saying, you know, when you start doing that, because you know, where does it stop,” DeRennaux said.

DeRennaux advised the group to approach the business owners and respectfully give them ideas to help improve and beautify their storefronts.

“I just don’t want to attack anybody. If you can use tactfulness and talk to the owner, maybe that’s the first step,” DeRennaux added.

While some business owners are using their storefronts as storage, Lakaner said that other stores have absentee landlords, who have kept their business fronts empty for decades. She added that the city of Steelville is losing out on potential tax revenue from these businesses.

“They aren’t helping the city of Steelville at all. You’re not getting any tax revenue from any of these empty buildings. There’s absentee landlord ordinances in other towns, so it can be done,” Lakaner said.

DeRennaux was receptive to the feedback and encouraged the group’s members to bring these issues up at the upcoming Board of Aldermen meetings.

“I am the mayor, but I depend on my council for votes,” he told the group. “What I’m saying is, you can bring those concerns to a meeting, they’re welcome. You know, not everything’s good, not everything’s bad, but, we will listen to them, and if there’s a solution, I’m all for it.”

Following the mayor’s response, Cape brought up the group’s mantra while raising a question.

“How do we keep moving Steelville forward?”

Lakaner responded, “We need to find a way to get people to stop and shop in our town.”

DeRennaux admitted that Steelville is mainly a drive through town that’s known for canoes and camping and the only businesses who are generating revenue are gas stations and restaurants.

“The good thing about it is that they have to drive through here to get to their destination,” Lakaner said. “We have to get people to stop, and empty storefronts aren’t getting people to stop.”

One member of Steelville forward suggested having a nice steak house on Main Street while another brought up the idea of having a Steelville museum, to represent the history of the city.

The conversation concluded with DeRennaux discussing the idea of “Happy the Troll” at Hoppe Spring Park, which was brought to the Board of Aldermen by resident Miles Yeary at the June 16 Board of Aldermen meeting.

“I’ll say this about the troll, and I’m probably going to hurt your feelings. Don’t count on the troll,” DeRennaux said. “This is all talk right now. Just remember it right now, it’s just talk. Don’t get the cart ahead of the horse, please. There’s a long process that has to go on to get this done. So yes, just be at ease for now. I’m asking for you to be tolerant for a while.”

Steelville Forward is planning on meeting in August for their monthly meeting. A time and location hasn’t been named yet, but if you would like to get involved, contact Tamra Cape at 573-202-0506.

The Steelville Board of Aldermen meetings take place on the first and third Monday of each month, at 6 p.m. at Steelville City Hall. If you would like to be added to the agenda for a meeting, you are asked to call the City Clerk at 573-775-2815 or come by City Hall. Agenda requests must be made by 4 p.m. on the Wednesday prior to the meeting.