Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton Downtown Warren peeks through the railroad trestle on the city’s west side on Tuesday afternoon. The Warren County Chamber of Business & Industry has formed a group — the Trestle to Trestle Task Force — aimed at looking at development options between the two railroad trestles in response to strong community opposition to a riverfront hotel.

The infrastructure of the Trestle to Trestle Task Force is in place.

The initiative — under the auspices of the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry and aimed at focusing on development in the City of Warren between the two railroad trestles to the west and east — has settled on a mission and broken into committees.

Now it’s time for the real work to begin.

“We have had one meeting of each of the committees and two meetings of the Task Force as a whole,” Jim Decker, president/CEO of the WCCBI said. “The initial committee meetings were a combination of discussion of the mission and expectations of the individual committee as well as a general brainstorming of the numerous developments desired for the community at large.”

The Task Force is a response to an uprising of community opposition against a proposed downtown hotel that would have likely come at the expense of Breeze Point Landing as a public park.

While City of Warren staff continue to vet possible sites for a hotel in the city, the idea is also before the Task Force — one of the committees is to focus on lodging. The other two will emphasize recreation and retail.

“Meetings will now begin to focus more directly on the specific topic area and begin to first prioritize the elements felt needed in that area and then begin to vet locations, ownership structures, financing, etc.,” Decker said.

Each committee is meeting monthly and the Task Force is meeting in the whole monthly, as well.

“Task Force meetings will provide each committee the opportunity to present their work monthly to gain broader insights, ideas and discussion as to how initiatives of each committee interact or conflict with one another,” Decker said.

Just over 25 people are on the Task Force today.

“There was no ‘selection’ process at all,” Decker said. “(A)nyone interested in being involved was and continues to be welcome.”

“The Task Force has no defined timeline at all,” Decker said. “We will continue the effort for as long as there is interest and need.”

Anyone looking to join, Decker said, just needs to reach out to him to be added.

Those who may want to be heard but don’t want to sit on the Task Force also have an option — the WCCBI has put out a survey focusing on the “Phase 1” area — defined as Hickory Street to Market Street and all the area south of Third Avenue.

That survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/T2TsurveywarrencountyFB.

“The desired outcome of this effort is to develop projects in each of the defined areas that enhance the overall viability and desirability of the City of Warren for residents and visitors alike,” Decker explained. “Projects will be vetted in terms of desirability, sustainability and financial viability.

“A major part of these reviews is to evaluate potential investors/owners for each element presented as well as opportunities and needs to public-sector investments that would be administered by the City of Warren.”