2003-010-RES LETTER OF AGREEMENT WITH THE TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION TO QUALIFY THE CITY FOR ELIGIBILITY TO CONTINUE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MAIN STREET GRADUATE CITY PROGRAM

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~ Letter or Apeement - 2003 Paris- Page 2 The City of Paris is. in tum, expected to commit to and adopt the Main Street strategy, as developed by the Texas Main Street Center of the Texas Historical Commission, which consists of the following ten criteria: 1. Broad.based public support for the commercial district revitalization process, with strong support from both public and private sectors. By involving a broad range of interests and perspectives in the revitalization process, the Main Street program leverages the community's collective skills and resources to maximum advantage. The goal is for all sectors to understand and be philosophically committed to the revitalization process and commit maximum resources possible to achieve commercial district revitalization. 2. Vision and mission statements relevant to community conditions and to the local Main Street program's organizational stage. A mission statement crystallizes the program's sense of purpose and overall direction, A vision statement communicates the organization's long-term hopes and intentions for the commercial district. 3. Comprehensive Main Street work plan providing detailed blueprint for activities, reinforcing program's accountability and providing measurable objectives by which program can track progress. 4. Historic preservation ethic. Historic preservation involves not only the process of rehabilitating, restoring or renovating older commercial buildings, but also the process of adopting planning and land use policies which encourage full use of existing commercial centers before new development takes place, and removing the regulatory and other barriers which sometimes make it difficult to attract investment to historic commercial districts. 5. Active board of directors and committees. The direct involvement of an active board of directors and committees is key to changing the community's attitude about its commercial district. The Main Street director is responsible for facilitating volunteers, not for single-handedly revitalizing the commercial district. 6. Adequate operating budget. To be successful, a Main Street program must have the financial resources necessary to carry out its work plan. The size of a program's budget will change as the program matures, and is likely to vary according to regional economic differences and community size. 7. Paid, professional program Manager. Coordinating a successful program requires a trained, professional staff person who in most cases, works full time. The most successful program Managers are those who are gQ9d communicators, good volunteer motivators, and possess good organizational and management skills, which keep the program's many activities moving forward on schedule and within budget. 8. Program of ongoing training for staff and volunteers. Both staff and volunteers need different skills in different phases of the revitalization process, and as staff and volunteer turnover occurs, they will need basic Main Street training. Participants also should stay current on issues affecting commercial districts as well as new revitalization techniques and models. 9. Reporting of key statistics. Tracking statistics, such as reinvestment, job and business creation, and so on, provides a tangible measurement of the local Main Street program' s progress and is crucial to garnering financial and programmatic support for the effort. Statistics must be collected on a regular, ongoing basis.