Since April, a Naples downtown revitalization group, made up of local business owners and residents, has been meeting at the town office to discuss what can be done to spruce up the town. John Shattuck, new vice president of the Lake Region Development Council, has taken over as mediator for the group that meets at noon on every third Wednesday of the month.

“If we’re successful, this will be a self-sustaining group,” Shattuck said. “This will succeed on citizen effort and not (the Development Council’s).”

Recently, the group has begun to take control and establish the grassroots of the organization. At last Friday’s meeting, Shattuck said mmbers began brainstorming names for the group like “Naples Village Renewal.” They hope to choose a name that reflects the scope of the project and defines the so-called “Naples village” as being broader than just the quarter-mile strip of causeway where most summer businesses are located.

The group is also looking seriously into small projects, Shattuck said, that would have an “immediate impact” on the downtown – projects like benches, banners over the road, painting railings, cleaning up the sidewalks, restriping roads and putting ramps at crosswalks to make them more handicapped accessible.

While working on little projects, the group will be looking ahead to bigger ones that would coincide with the new Naples causeway bridge yet to be built. The group has met, in prior months, with the Department of Transportation (MDOT) to talk about the bridge construction and a repaving of the Route 302 corridor in Naples.

“MDOT has shown that they will be receptive to citizen opinions,” Shattuck said. “We don’t get to dictate, but we do get to influence.”

As the Downtown Revitalization meetings continue, members of the group will take on leadership roles, Shattuck said, to rally more support from Naples citizens and business owners alike.

“I feel like I’m able to do something for the town and also look after my guests in a more long-term way,” said Keith Neubert, owner of the Inn at Long Lake, who has been with the group since the beginning. “I want to put my talents where they’re best used. Whether people have stepped up or not (to take the lead), there’s a pool of resources and good ideas.”

Neubert is confident that the revitalization will take place as long as there is a consensus from the citizens of Naples.

“Everybody will have a say if they want to,” Neubert said. “This will happen. We just have to trust that if we work as a team, it will all come out in the best way.”

On Wednesday, Sept. 21 at Naples Town Office, the Downtown Revitalization group will meet with the Department of Environmental Protection to discuss possibility of a pedestrian boardwalk over the Long Lake side of the Naples causeway.