LIVERMORE FALLS – The request for proposals for a downtown revitalization study was reviewed and approved Monday morning as Town Manager Alan Gove met with merchants and members of the Community Development Advisory Committee.

Gove’s draft request is for the study, the one for which the town received a $10,000 planning assistance grant from the state.

He explained that it will be part of the planner’s function to tell the town where it can go, but the committee has the final decision on the direction in which it wants to go.

The plan can address many areas of revitalization to include safety, public amenities, traffic patterns, building facades, a marketing plan and business development.

Committee members suggested placing emphasis on what the town has, such as the river and parks, affordable housing and convenient location to such attractions as Sugarloaf and Saddleback ski areas.

“We’ve got a lot going for us,” Gove said. “This is a growing community with a great school system,” Chairman Jodi Cornelio added.

Gove stressed the importance of community involvement in the current planning and in the possible application for a larger grant.

Committee member Bruce Adams, who attended a recent Maine Street seminar, told about advice he had been given there about branding your town, deciding what you’re striving to do and build on that.

With the application approved, Gove will move ahead with the timeline that includes having proposals in by Nov. 14, review and selection by Dec. 19 and formulating a plan by March 22, 2004.

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