Merchants interviewed today agreed improvements are needed downtown and getting the work done is a priority. One merchant who asked not to be identified by name said improving the looks of downtown was an "urgent" issue.

But, the merchant added, any new ordinance should take into consideration the financial hardship to building owners of replacing numerous boarded up windows.

Members of the committee, appointed by the City Commission include Curtis Eaton, Bob Foster, Rick Rush, Roger Sparks, Jim Sybrant, Blanche Schmidt and Brick Vining.

Schmidt said the Tuesday meeting's purpose is to discuss and propose an implementation plan for city improvements and to draft a new ordinance.

"Part of my issue was wanting to do work for several years on my building," Schmidt said. "The city gave us permission to put tan material to match the building on the second and third floor.

"A week and a half later, I saw an article in the paper about the proposed ordinance. I was surprised."

Schmidt and her husband, Luke, are owners of the building housing their business, Schmidt Jewelers.

Another issue is security. The Schmidts had to close up some windows on the first floor for security reasons, she said.

The original windows ordinance would cover both commercial and residential properties. Putting those two types of property into one ordinance might not be wise, a few of the merchants interviewed said.

"There's a lot of room for improvement downtown," said Foster, owner of Foster's Furniture Store.

He said the former Burford Theatre Building restoration now in the works is a good example of what could be done with other downtown buildings. "That's going to look fabulous."

But financing is also an issue, he said.