A representative of downtown Shelbyville business establishments expressed frustration regarding the upcoming ribbon-cutting ceremony for the recently-completed Public Square redevelopment project.

Adam Tindall, one of the owners of Munchies, 39 Public Square, addressed the Common Council Monday morning at City Hall about a perceived slight of the downtown businesses with regard to the June 3 ribbon-cutting ceremony in downtown Shelbyville.

The ribbon cutting is set for 5 p.m. and a downtown celebration including lawn games, two food trucks and music will follow until 9 p.m.

“We feel like we were grossly neglected during this project that this is celebrating and we would ask that, moving forward, we be more informed, more included, and thought of and represented better from this council,” said Tindall.

The mayor pointed out that the Common Council had nothing to do with the planning of the event. That happened within his office and he took responsibility for the notion that downtown businesses felt slighted.

“It’s not the council’s fault. The council was not involved in the planning,” said DeBaun to Tindall. “I will take the blame for that.

“I appreciate you making the effort to come and make those comments. What seemed obvious to me clearly was not in a sense that I assumed by creating the event, frankly the only ribbon cutting we will have, that in conjunction with the Strawberry Festival, there would be a significant number of people drawn downtown, that it wasn’t an issue. If the city sponsors any events in the future, we certainly will have an outreach effort.”

Shelby Senior Services’ annual Strawberry Festival returns to downtown Shelbyville on June 3. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Simultaneously, the City of Shelbyville will host Municipal Government Day with various city departments in attendance and city equipment on display. The annual event offers a free lunch (hot dogs, chips, drink) to those in attendance.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony and downtown celebration runs from 5 to 9 p.m.

This is the second downtown event scheduled since the completion of the redevelopment project. The Christmas holiday celebration in December drew more than 5,000 people downtown.