The Danville Town Council is set Tuesday to make its final decision on a comprehensive update to the town's Downtown Master Plan, following numerous discussions and public outreach efforts on the matter.

"This DMP Update builds upon the strong framework of the original DMP with an updated set of implementation projects to adapt its physical spaces to accommodate changing community needs brought about by the global COVID-19 pandemic," Jill Bergman, the town's business and economic development director, said in a staff report.

"Specifically, it seeks to reimagine how these spaces can be enhanced to provide greater connection, interaction, and engagement," she added.

The proposed update aims to address the top three priorities identified in a number of public outreach efforts. These consist of improvements along Hartz Avenue, expansions to the Theatre Plaza and public plaza at Hartz Avenue and Prospect Street, and addressing traffic safety concerns.

To address the latter concern, the proposed update would entail "intersection bulb-outs to enhance pedestrian safety by shortening the crossing distance and narrowing the street, two raised intersection tables to slow vehicular traffic, and introduces expanded areas at intersections for specialty art lighting to enhance nighttime visibility," according to Bergman.

A draft of the update was presented during the council's Aug. 16 meeting, in which council members asked staff to finalize the update after making several minor changes that would retain some parking spaces and accommodate businesses with the sidewalk expansions.

"As with the original DMP, implementation of all projects is expected to take over a decade and millions of dollars of infrastructure investment," Bergman said. "Fortunately, the Town Council has allocated Local Fiscal Recovery Funds received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and additional General Fund dollars to advance a selected catalyst project."

Although the ARPA funding is a once-unexpected source of funding now available for some projects, it comes with some limitations.

"To utilize ARPA funds, the selected project(s) must be of a sufficiently limited scope (in time and cost) to be designed and completed no later than 2026," Bergman said.

In total, $2.5 million in funding has been reserved for the projects in the update, under the town's capital improvement program, $1.5 million of which is from ARPA and $1 million of which is from the general fund.

The Danville Town Council is set to meet Tuesday (Sept. 6) at 5 p.m. The agenda is available here.