Community

Moundsville Hosts ON TRAC Officials

Officials with the WV ON TRAC downtown revitalization program visited Moundsville on Wednesday to discuss creating a brand identity for Jefferson Avenue and to hear from downtown business owners about their vision for the street.

Moundsville city officials met with West Virginia Main Street/OnTrac Coordinator Jennifer Brennan and representatives from Arnett Muldrow & Associates, the design and marketing company for the WV ON TRAC program.

Moundsville was the second of three stops by ON TRAC representatives to the new WV ON TRAC communities that entered the program in late 2024. Moundsville's ON TRAC District is Jefferson Avenue from Second Street to Fifth Street, and the Strand Theatre.

In the morning of their visit, ON TRAC officials met with city leadership, Regional Economic Development Partnership representatives and members of the city's four ON TRAC committees. The meeting centered around the potential economic growth of the city and ways to revitalize the downtown area design-wise.

RED Program Development Manager Valerie Piko gave an update on the city from an economic development standpoint. She said the Moundsville area had employment opportunities, but noted that it depends on the industry whether workers are staying in the city for employment.

Moundsville ON TRAC Design Committee member Carole Wood added that Moundsville was a "great retirement community," with many people coming to the area for that reason.

Arnett Muldrow & Associates Partner Ben Muldrow then questioned what city leadership and the ON TRAC committee members believe is needed for the business district. Wood responded that they want the downtown to remain a "welcoming community" that "feels nice and looks nice."

"We need to do more things in the community to bring people into the stores," Wood said.

Muldrow then questioned whether the city had a facade grant program. Vice Mayor Sara Wood-Shaw, the Moundsville ON TRAC District Co-Liaison, said the city had offered Interior Improvements and Exterior Paint Grants to downtown business owners.

Hudrow shared ideas for other facade improvement programs the city could use, including a "Five for Free" paint program. Under this program, a local paint company would cover the first five gallons of paint a business would use to paint its exterior.

Wood asked Hudrow what steps could be taken to incentivize downtown businesses that do not want to repaint or improve the exterior of their building to do so. Hudrow responded that these situations often require a "delicate approach" to navigate.

"It's difficult to have these conversations without property rights coming up, but property rights are directly proportional to how close your neighbors are," Hudrow noted. "When you own a property in a historic downtown, you own a component of the economic viability of a district, and if you choose to make that component not perform, you are affecting the viability of neighbors. Economics are always involved, so you can't beautify just to beautify, especially if you're a property owner with revenue generation."

Hudrow noted that he had been told that Moundsville had a reputation for being a "relatively easy place" to start a business. He added that he does not "hear this very often" and wondered if this resulted from a deliberate effort by city officials.

Moundsville City Manager Rick Healy responded that the city provides new business owners with a welcome packet that includes a zoning flow chart and samples of all the forms they need. He noted he has also made an effort amongst city department heads for them to emphasize the importance of city employees conducting themselves professionally.

"Often when you go to government locations, you just get the service you get because that's their job," Healy said. "Part of my background is in retail, where if you act like that, you won't get customers. I've tried to implement more of a retail feel here that makes people want to come back, and we try to help everybody the best we can collectively as employees."

After the meeting, ON TRAC officials visited business owners along Jefferson Avenue to discuss what the area means to them and design ideas they may have.