Local groups deliver reports during April Linden City Council meeting

By Ben Woods
bwoods@casscountynow.com

The Linden Heritage Foundation (LHF), Linden Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), and Linden Main Street manager presented updates during the April 10 meeting of the Linden City Council.
President of the Linden Heritage Foundation Joe B. Lovelace spoke about what the foundation has been working on.
“First I want to thank the city for what it has done and all the help,” said Lovelace.
Lovelace mentioned concerns over the stability of the water tower and the efforts of LHF to keep it standing because it is a Linden landmark.
“The city had its engineer and Don Henley had an engineer and both looked at the water tower and Henley’s engineer came to the conclusion that it would last another 100 years,” said Lovelace.
Lovelace spoke about the 1939 Linden firehouse and how the foundation looked at it as a historic building that could be restored, and possibly be used commercially. 
“We took the firehouse in and took responsibility for stabilizing it, which you have seen if you go past it,” said Lovelace. 
Lovelace also spoke about the history of the firehouse and how it came to be, and announced that they have found the original Linden fire truck and hope to have it restored as well.
Lovelace showed a rendering of what the LHF would like the firehouse to look like after restoration.
LHF has an architect who will look at the firehouse and present possible uses for it, and they hope to begin restoration in 2018.
LEDC Assistant Director Beverly Freeman presented the LEDC update before the council. 
Freeman announced that Emily Henderson, who was serving as executive director of the LEDC, had resigned as of March 14. LEDC has begun the search for a new director with an application deadline of April 28.
“We have started the search for an executive director and the job has been posted on three industry websites,” said Freeman. 
Freeman announced that Caver and Setser is the audit firm chosen to audit the LEDC. “Caver and Setser have our paperwork and will begin processing it on April 19, and when it is finished it will go before the LEDC board and then we will send it to city council for final approval,” said Freeman.
Freeman supplied the February financials of the LEDC to the council as requested by Alderman Ruth Halleck.
Main Street Manager Allie Anderson showed off new T-shirts and street light banners with the Linden Main Street logo printed on them. The new Linden Main Street banners have been hung on street lights downtown. The Linden Main Street shirts can be bought at Linden City Hall for $15 and the money goes toward funding Main Street projects. 
“We picked T-shirts as our first fundraising project because they have a huge return on investment,” said Anderson. 
Anderson also reminded the council that the first lady of Texas will be in Linden for the Texas Main Street welcoming ceremony. “We have an incredible group of volunteers that have been working to make sure everything goes smoothly,” said Anderson.