DeKALB | The Ellwood Historic District Neighborhood Group met Thursday to update an earlier plan aimed at making improvements to the Ellwood Historic District.

The Ellwood Historic District is located in the area encompassing Locust Street, First Street and John Street.

The group is comprised of landlords and homeowners who own or manage property in the Ellwood Historic District. The purpose of the meeting was to begin work on an implementation process to a plan adopted in 2003 to revitalize the area.

“The focus of the group is the preservation, revitalization and renovation of the Ellwood historic neighborhood,” said John Campen, an organizer of the group.

Among the concerns raised at the meeting were landlord-tenant issues, including the enforcement of noise ordinances for all properties in the Ellwood Historic Neighborhood. Further discussion was held for a future meeting.

The Ellwood Historic Neighborhood plans to invest in landscaping projects in order to beautify the area. There was some disagreement over whether public or private funds should be used to finance the project and the topic was set aside for a later meeting.

The group is also interested in appointing an ombudsman in order to help resolve issues between tenants and landlords. More discussion was needed and the idea was set aside for a future meeting.

Homeowners and landlords in the group expressed a desire to maintain parking code enforcement for street parking in the Ellwood neighborhood and to install more stop signs at intersections. The stop signs would be installed within two years.

The Ellwood Historic District Neighborhood Group plans to meet the first week of April, and is interested in extending the invitation to tenants as well as landlords and homeowners. Campen said the date of the next meeting has not been set.