Community Development Authority

Responsibilities of the CDA

The City of Rogers City Community Development Authority (CDA) is a Downtown Development Authority (DDA), established per Act 179 of Public Acts of 1975, as amended, of the State of Michigan.  Also commonly called the DDA Act, the Act’s purpose is to help communities throughout Michigan to prevent deterioration within the downtown district, to promote economic growth and revitalization, and to encourage historic preservation.

Click here for a map of the Downtown Development Authority District (.pdf, 270k)

One reason the DDA in Rogers City is called the "CDA" is to emphasize “Community.” The downtown is the center of the community not only economically, but also socially and culturally. If the downtown is vibrant, then the entire community is vibrant.  As the downtown improves, the entire community improves.

The DDA or CDA, both terms are equally correct, is intentionally designed to take the politics out of the process. The board members are appointed to serve four year terms so they will tend to make the best decisions for the downtown/community, and not be concerned about the elections.

Your CDA board members are listed below; they represent businesses, residents, and other government agencies. They are given the responsibility to spend the CDA’s tax money wisely to improve the downtown. CDA funding comes from the taxes collected from only the CDA district and must be spent on that district. See the CDA map for details.

The most important goal of the CDA, besides overall improvement, is consensus. In public activity, it is unlikely that everyone will agree about everything; however, to make real improvements the CDA, the City Council, and the other boards and commissions of the City should reach consensus (if possible more than a simple majority) about most major actions.

To help the CDA to organize and reach consensus the CDA Board has been using some elements of the USA Main Street Program’s Four Point Approach. Below is a quote from this organizations web page, giving a brief summary of this approach:

The Main Street Four-Point Approach™ is a community-driven, comprehensive methodology used to revitalize older, traditional business districts throughout the United States. It is a common-sense way to address the variety of issues and problems that face traditional business districts. The underlying premise of the Main Street approach is to encourage economic development within the context of historic preservation in ways appropriate to today's marketplace. The Main Street Approach advocates a return to community self-reliance, local empowerment, and the rebuilding of traditional commercial districts based on their unique assets: distinctive architecture, a pedestrian-friendly environment, personal service, local ownership, and a sense of community.

To learn more about the USA Main Street Program, click on this site: www.mainstreet.org 

to view pictures of the downtown!

Meeting Times and Locations

Community Development Authority meetings are regularly held at 7:30am on the second Wednesday of each month at City Hall.  Usually, the meetings last about one hour. 

In addition, the CDA contains two active committees:

• The Executive Committee meets only as necessary.  The purpose of the executive committee is to research detailed matters as needed and make recommendations to the full CDA Board.  Members are James Przybyla, Erik Nadolsky, and Tim Pritchard
• The Design Committee usually meets at 4:15 pm on the First Monday of each month at City Hall; The purpose of the Design Committee is to advise the CDA on matters of attractiveness and design.  Members include Deb Greene, Owen Lamb, Jan Stevenson, Beach Hall, Deb Greene, Debbie Stiller, and Del Conley.

All CDA regular, special, and committee meetings are open to the public.  The CDA Board encourages public attendance and input to their decision-making process.  Communications to the CDA should be directed to Janet Nowak.  Janet is the recording secretary for the CDA, and she can be contacted at jnowak@rogerscity.com.

Mark Slown is an advisor to the CDA.  Mark can be reached at mslown@rogerscity.com

Current Directors:

• Jim Przybyla (C)
• Bridget LaLonde
• Dennis Meredith
• John Budnik
• Gary Nowak
• Erik Nadolsky
• Kevin Lamb
• William Hanson
• Beach Hall
• Neil Grulke
• Tim Prichard
• Boyd Haut
  
  All documents are in PDF format.

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Archived Minutes of the Community Developement Authority