About 50 volunteers are shaping a master plan for a more walkable, safer downtown Mason, three of them told attendees at the Common Beer Company on Wednesday, Sept. 2.

The Mason Deerfield Chamber Community Development Corporation (MADE CDC) was the headline topic at WCPO 9's "Let's Talk Mason" listening event, where residents lined up to raise issues ranging from downtown development to city tax fairness.

Chris Heim, Lisa Heim and Kayfa Fustre, all MADE CDC volunteers, described the group's push to beautify stretches of downtown, attract new businesses and create a coherent development plan. Lisa Heim said each volunteer brings a different skill set and encouraged neighbors to join at madecdc.org.

"It's all about being able to walk and feel safe downtown," Lisa Heim said.

Fustre said walkability is a central goal of the master plan. "I think young people demand that nowadays," she said. "They want a place where they can work, play."

The effort builds on the Mason Mile Master Plan, a draft MADE CDC unveiled in August 2025. That plan covers a stretch from Reading Road near Tylersville Road to E. Main Street near Heritage Oak Park, proposing new businesses, bike and walking paths and residential development.

MADE CDC President and CEO Sherry Taylor said in August 2025, when the draft was released, "This is the progression of that promise we made to the neighborhood." The city of Mason unanimously approved zoning reforms for the downtown business district in November 2025, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier.

Bob Biney, a former Navy nuclear submarine officer, used the event to outline a collaboration between area teachers and the USS Cincinnati Submarine Memorial in West Chester. The goal: interactive, age-appropriate STEM and history exhibits at the memorial site in Voice of America Park.

"Next summer we're going to be putting together hands-on activities for kids on different grade levels," Biney said.

One idea involves installing QR codes that generate an augmented reality avatar of a crewman to guide visitors through the submarine, according to WCPO's recap.

Greenery subdivision resident questions city taxes

Resident Frank Miller raised a question that drew no immediate answer. Miller said he pays Mason city taxes in The Greenery subdivision but does not receive city services such as trash collection or street plowing. The city contracts trash pickup through Rumpke for all residential customers, according to Mason's official website. Why The Greenery appears excluded remains unclear.

WCPO reporter Sean DeLancey wrote that the station plans follow-up coverage on all three topics.

The Mason City Planning Commission meets Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m. at the Mason Municipal Center, 6000 Mason Montgomery Road.