Put a Mall, Amusment park, Casino, restaurants, Hotels, etc. right down on the waterfront. Line up the boat captains and take people out for a day of fishing. Advertise and they will come. Manufacturing/mill jobs are yesterdays news. Tourism and using your natural resources to your advantage never goes out of style. That will create jobs and bring the out of town $$ in. The downtown could be revitalized off of this idea, albeit a difficult one to bring to fruition.
Get rid of the gov't layers and the NFTA. We all know the history. Quit crying a river.
Or B!tch and moan about how it will never fly. Don't try.