The Thayer Street District Management Authority - which seeks to improve and maintain the street - approved its $89,288 budget for the present fiscal year Wednesday morning, in a public hearing that failed to attract any attendees.
Seated before rows of empty chairs, the DMA's board of directors voted to adopt a budget that will spend $8,600 more than the authority's current income.
But board members said they will use earnings retained from past years to cover the gap.
The authority seeks to use most of its budget to renovate and beautify the Thayer Street commercial district and to attract new businesses and investments to the area.
In January 2006, the Providence City Council approved the DMA, composed of a nine-member volunteer board of large property owners, city and University representatives.
The authority is funded by landowners who are required to pay five percent of the assessed value of their properties to its budget. This year the University, which owns the Bookstore and various other properties on and around the street, contributed $20,000 to the DMA.
The authority will pay $37,500 to a California-based consulting company, Urban Place Consulting Group, which the board hired last month to help manage its day-to-day activities.
The firm, which also handles the Providence Downtown Improvement District, will coordinate graffiti removal and sidewalk cleanup on Thayer Street, manage the authority's budget and collect pending revenue from property owners, said John Luipold, the board's secretary and the University's director of real estate.
Darrell Brown, the University's director of state and community relations, who also serves on the board, said a lack of time and expertise led the board members to hand over these duties to the firm.
Luipold said he was unsure why no property or business owners came to Wednesday morning's hearing.
He said notices had been posted on the Secretary of State's Web site and printed in the Providence Journal.
Several business owners interviewed by The Herald said they did not know anything about the meeting or the fact that the authority was adopting its budget.
"I don't think we're that informed," said Ann Dusseault, owner of Pie in the Sky, a novelty and gift shop.
"The business owners are the people who are here everyday. A landlord may be an absentee. I don't even have a (DMA) number to call."
When told about the budget figure, Dusseault said, "I don't know where all that money goes."
Other business owners shared Dusseault's view. Cara Berman, whose family owns Shades Plus and Army/Navy Surplus, said she does not think the authority is doing much to improve the street's appearance.
"I'm here almost every day," she said. "I don't see anything."
In the summer of 2007, the DMA planted 30 new trees along the street, replaced sidewalks and completed the installation of new patterned crosswalks along the street, The Herald reported Oct. 18.
Currently the board is looking to replace some of its members - including Director Kenneth Dulgarian - who recently resigned from their positions.
Dulgarian, who owns several properties on Thayer and has been in the area for more than 30 years, said his hectic business schedule forced him to step down from his position.
He said the authority will benefit from "new blood" but added that he will continue to help in any way he can.
