A jeweler and a developer were added last week to the Oxford Downtown Development Authority’s nine-member board of directors.
Mark A. Young, owner of the downtown jewelry store bearing his name, and Charles Schneider, a real estate developer and owner of numerous downtown properties, were appointed by the village council to the DDA with terms ending in September 2010.
They replace board members Dave Weckle and Kurt Kuehn, whose terms expired.
Young, of Orion Twp., has owned the building which houses his shop at 31 N. Washington St. since 1999.
He previously served on the DDA board from November 2004 until his resignation May 2006 over a budget dispute with council. He was DDA chairman from February through May of his last year.
Young got involved with the DDA again back in April 2007 as a member of the Organization Committee, a body he had previously chaired.
Young applied to get back on the DDA board because ‘the complexion of the council and the DDA had changed? for the better in his opinion.
‘It was an opportune time, I thought, for me, to be able to work with people again,? he said. ‘There’s still plenty of work that needs to be done within the DDA district as far as restoration, preservation, economic rebuilding and getting folks on the extremes of the district (such as the Oxford Marketplace) more included in what we’re doing here.?
Young said he wants the DDA to ‘take a better business-minded look at how things are done.?
Schneider’s been developing real estate in various communities for 25 years and in Oxford since 1994.
He currently owns 10 properties within the DDA district.
Schneider feels he can offer the DDA ‘the same kind of expertise? as Weckle, a local builder/developer, did for many years, given his many renovation and new construction projects.
His developments have won him numerous awards from the Oxford Beatification Commission over the years.
As far as governmental experience, Schneider has served on Lake Orion’s DDA board for the last five or six years.
As a new member of Oxford’s DDA, Schneider wants to keep existing programs ‘progressing forward? and make sure ‘we keep coming up with new things and new ideas designed to improve the downtown.?
? Editor C.J. Carnacchio