Five multi-colored banners depicting St. Ignace events will decorate downtown lampposts. Banner artwork was presented at the Friday, March 20, Downtown Development Authority meeting. (Artwork by Sam Staffan of Mackinaw Art and Sign) Street banners will hang from downtown lampposts announcing summer events, table signs will decorate local eating establishments providing event details, and hotels will promote events in the latest effort by the Downtown Development Authority to publicize summer activities in St. Ignace.

Approved by the DDA board, banner designs were presented at its Friday, March 20, meeting. The banners will be hung in May and remain on lampposts until the holidays in December, when wreaths and holly and colored lights will replace them.

Event information on the banners is being kept to a minimum to get the attention of a passing motorist. Too much information, said DDA Director Deb Evashevski, would not be readable. She will look into hanging banners around the city marina parking area.

Fifty banners will be ordered for about $5,000.

Plans for the North Huron Scenic Pathway continue to move forward, said Mrs. Evashevski, and the city is planning to hold a public hearing. Mrs. Evashevski co-chairs the pathway committee and gave the DDA a project update. One of the plans under consideration would be a lane reduction on North State Street from Marquette Street to I-75 entrance near Mackinac Trail. The conversion of State Street would reduce traffic lanes from four to three to allow for a bike path on each side of the roadway.

During the City Council meeting Monday, March 16, Mrs. Evashevski said, the city was advised by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) that it would be responsible for costs associated with the bicycle lanes, including plowing and maintenance.

"There definitely are some drawbacks," she said. "We didn't know some of those drawbacks until the council meeting Monday night. For me, some of those drawbacks affect other city enti- ties financially, which I don't want to cause."

Les Therrian, Department of Public Works director, told The St. Ignace News Friday, March 20, that MDOT pays the city about $75,000 to maintain 18.4 lanemiles of trunkline. The bicycle lanes would take about 3.3 lanemiles and reduce the MDOT payment by about 18%, he said, or about $14,000.

A second option under consideration, said Mrs. Evashevski, would include working with MDOT when they resurface the street in 2010 and locate the pathway beside the four-lane road.

"I do think that it is important," she said, "to try to draw those people into our downtown, try to advertise that we have a bike path that runs from our hotels into our downtown area, a safe area for people to hop on their bikes and come into our downtown area. I think it's going to help us in the long run."

In other business, the city's new event, a Music Festival set for August 15, will receive $1,000 from the DDA. A $1,833 grant through the Eastern Upper Peninsula Regional Planning and Development Commission and the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs was received, although Mrs. Evashevski had requested $4,000. The festival is being organized by the St. Ignace Events Committee.

The festival is schedule to run from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and the Events Committee is seeking approval from the Department of Transportation to close State Street between Truckey and Spring streets. Musicians, said Mrs. Evashevski, will play from the deck of the Marina Pub. Four bands will play for an hour each, she said.

The DDA also will contribute $800 toward the cost of Saturday evening entertainment leading up to the fireworks.

The Events Committee, said Mrs. Evashevski, wants to promote activities before the fireworks each Saturday night. Businesses are being asked to remain open later and the Events Committee is considering hiring Gary Engle to hold contests, which would be broadcasted on downtown speakers. Cost for the entertainment is estimated to be about $1,600 through the summer.

Under consideration as a future project will be the construction of a gazebo at the marina. The cost, said Mrs. Evashevski, is estimated to be about $15,000, if the work is performed by city crews.

Musicians now play under a covered area, although nothing is available to the audience when it rains, she said, so Bayside Live entertainment is moved to Little Bear East, which draws fewer listeners.

The DDA next meets Friday, April 10, at 8 a.m. at city hall.