Seymour Main Street held a public input session Monday evening to receive feedback from downtown residents on what they believe needs improving in the area.

The meeting was organized in partnership with the engineering firm Veridus Group, which facilitated the session and asked participants for their feedback, and the architectural firm Context Design. Both companies are based in Indianapolis.

Feedback was requested from the session to contribute to a comprehensive downtown streetscape master plan.

Three downtown residents were in attendance.

The purpose of the plan is to establish downtown Seymour as a walkable and welcoming environment while bolstering economic vitality and improving the area’s aesthetics and infrastructure.

Bri Roll, executive director of Seymour Main Street, said at the beginning of the session that the purpose in gaining feedback wasn’t just figuring out how to make downtown look better but also to learn specifically about what the experience is like being downtown.

“It’s a little more in-depth than just, ‘Let’s make everything pretty with flowers,’” she said. “It’s going to go more like is our downtown friendly? Is it walkable? Is there appropriate signage that tells people how to get downtown? How do people know they’re downtown? Do we have a safe downtown?”

Alaina Shonkwiler, director of community and economic development with Veridus Group, asked the group if they felt like parking downtown was being used frequently or if it was underutilized.

Dawn Mankiller-Bundy, a downtown Seymour resident, said she felt like many of downtown’s parking lots are underutilized because there isn’t much signage as to where they are, and she mainly sees people who work downtown parking in them as opposed to visitors.

George Clegg, another downtown resident, agreed with Mankiller-Bundy and said he felt not many people use the B&O Railroad Parking Lot behind the Knights of Columbus Council 1252 because there isn’t walking access to downtown and it doesn’t connect to Crossroads Community Park.

When people need to get to downtown Seymour from that parking lot, Clegg said they have to walk across gravel and train tracks.

Mankiller-Bundy said she walks with a stroller downtown and was concerned that many wheelchair ramps she comes across aren’t smooth and have bumpy pavement.

She said she doesn’t walk on one side of Chestnut Street because of a building that has an odor coming from it.

Another one of her concerns was that a few years ago, she found someone living out of a car behind where she lives and felt like it’s dark behind many of the buildings downtown.

Sgt. Crystal Schapson with the police department attended the meeting and said if downtown residents are concerned about people walking around downtown at night to call the police department.

She said the night shift officers would be happy to walk through alleyways and generally patrol the area.

The department’s phone number is 812-522-1234, and the anonymous tip line is 812-523-7629.

Schapson said people also can message SPD’s Facebook page if they have any questions.

Shonkwiler asked the group what they would like to see downtown, and the responses included a playground, a public restroom area, a pizza place, a microbrewery and evening hours from businesses.

Mankiller-Bundy said she has liked the variety of restaurants and shops that have opened downtown in the past couple of years.