(KTNC) - Falls City Main Street Executive Director Eric Barr began his report to the City Council last Monday by thanking the city for its support of Main Street Falls City.
 Barr said they are working to close out the grant for the first phase of the downtown revitalization project, and putting applications together for the next phase of the project.
 Other current projects he said Main Street is working on include a National Register of Historic Places nomination for downtown Falls City; researching a 2013 JOBS Grant application from the F-H-L Bank of Topeka; a business directory and map for the Main Street District; and the annual Main Street Banquet on January 30th. 
 Responding to a question from Council President Jerry Oliver, Barr said having the downtown district listed on the National Register of Historic Places would place no restrictions on building owners.  (play audio  :38)
 Barr said the JOBS grant would be used to create a revolving loan fund to help businesses start or expand. 
 Now that the first phase of the Main Street construction is complete, some frustration was aired over the project.  Mary Whitehouse, owner of Mary’s Appliance, said that while the newly constructed area looks nice, there are some issues that need to be corrected.
 Among those she said are the width of the intersection of 17th and Stone and the height of the flower planters north of the former PJ’s Jewelry store. 
 A bigger issue she said is that semis can no longer make deliveries to the back door of her store in the 1600 block of Stone, as the change to angle parking along the north side of 17th between Harlan and Stone has left too little room for trucks to turn from the alley onto 17th Street.  She said they now park delivery trucks on 16th Street and haul appliance up the alley to the store.  And she said all businesses depend on trucks to deliver merchandise.  (play audio  :56)
 Whitehouse commended the construction crews for completing the work in six weeks, but said downtown businesses took a financial hit as a result of the construction.  (play audio  :20)
 Tony Brunette with the Main Street Committee said the project is meant to help downtown businesses, and they’ve sought input from the start of the project. (play audio  :37)
 Brunette said few people have responded to calls for volunteers to serve on various Main Street committees.