The agendas for Washington’s City Council, Planning Board and Historic Preservation Commission meetings are getting fuller and fuller. The council, board and commission meetings are longer, for the most part, than they were three years ago.

Those longer agendas and meetings point to at least one thing: there’s more city-related business for them to address. What’s causing that increase?

There are several redevelopment projects underway in the city — the brewpub project in the old Fowle Building, the micro-distillery project in the former Bank of America Building, the transformation of the former Washington Jewelers building and the former Tassels building into a mixture of retail/residential spaces.

Lots of new home construction and renovation of existing homes in the Water Street corridor are taking place. Many property owners in the city’s Historic District are restoring and improving their houses and businesses.

The city’s pursuing its downtown streetscape improvements. The city plans to implement the streetscape project in phases as it finds money for the project’s components — a pay-as-you-go plan. That project includes, but it not limited to, aesthetic improvements such sidewalk upgrades, reconfiguring the intersection of Gladden Street, West Main Street and Stewart Parkway and landscaping. The one-block section on West Main Street runs from Gladden Street westward to Respess Street.

The city’s central business district and waterfront are key components of what drives the city’s economic engine. That’s why the city is investing tax dollars and grant funds — and attracting private investment — to further its goal of realizing more economic-development activities in the central business district.

That increased workload for the City Council, Planning Board and Historic Preservation Commission bodes well for the city, its tax base and its economy.