MEDINA, Ohio - Considering both inflation and the increase in activities Main Street Medina organizes each year, members of the city's finance committee have agreed that the city's annual contribution to Main Street Medina should increase.

"I had a meeting with Main Street Medina's executive director recently," Mayor Dennis Hanwell said. "The city gives a stipend to Main Street Medina every year because of all they do for the city. That annual stipend has been $30,000 since 2008."

Hanwell proposed that the stipend should be increased to $40,000.

"For one reason, using the inflation calculator, $30,000 in 2008 would be almost $44,000 today," he said. "But even more important than that is the increased number of events that Main Street puts on."

Hanwell said that when he became mayor in 2010, he challenged Main Street Medina to try to have more events. In that time, the organization has added Kids Day and Teen Fest, Juneteenth, the South Town Music Fest and Cars and Coffee to their list of annual events.

"All of these new activities and events bring even more people to our square," he said. "Also, the farmer's market was originally put on by another group, but Main Street Medina took it over in 2011. So they are doing even more work than before and the number of people they bring to the downtown I think will increase exponentially once the hotel is built, so I feel it is only fair the city increase its contribution."

Council President John Coyne said he thinks it is fair to increase the contribution.

"Even just keeping up with the value of money, we will basically still be paying less than what we paid in 2008," he said.