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Comprehensive plan coming together |
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Written by Reporter1
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Thursday, 11 March 2010 |
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Page 2 of 2
Those concerns are the basis of what will become, by May, the new comprehensive plan for the city.
A public meeting held Wednesday night at Riverside Center drew approximately 40 people who were given the opportunity to list their viewpoints on the relative importance of ideas in six general categories: housing, economic development, downtown, public services and infrastructure, quality of life, and appearance and aesthetics.
Opening the meeting, Mayor John Schultz said, "It is your community and we want to get things done the way you want them done."
To get the focus of the plan narrowed to six subjects, the Elkhart consulting firm of Wightman Petrie Inc. (WPI) used some 300 responses received from 200 local people via the Internet and 100 replies on paper. That's about three percent of Decatur's population, which WPI spokesman Ken Jones said was a pretty good sample.
WPI also made some 60 telephone calls to local people in business, religion, education, and health to gauge their opinions.
In introductory remarks, Jones referred to a WPI summary that said the comprehensive plan will "consider future policies, land use changes, and future development."
Schultz vowed that the plan will be used, not left on a shelf, and described it as "a guideline" and "a road map" for the city in the decades ahead.
The 300 responses also determined that Decatur's median household income is $37,234; that the median age of residents is 35; and that 66 percent of the residents live in homes they own. The city has 30 percent of its residences as rental units. Jones called those housing percentages "a fairly good balance."
He also said WPI will work with a firm called Development Concept Inc. to plan for Decatur's economic growth.
Jones stated that when final work on drafting a comprehensive plan starts, the goal will be to create a document "that leads each reader to the same conclusion" because that conclusion will "shine" so brightly.
The idea is, he added, to "leave the city with an implementation plan that's real, that can be accomplished" because the most important part of any plan is putting it into action and achieving what's desired.
"We're going to help you get there," Jones promised.
He said the theme of the comprehensive plan will be "We can do better."
Movement toward a new comprehensive plan for Decatur began about a year and a half ago, said Schultz, with the original focus on downtown development, gradually expanding to take in the betterment of the entire municipality.
A comprehensive plan committee has been meeting monthly and there will be another large public session, such as the one last night, before the plan is final.
Once the new comprehensive plan is complete, it will help the city seek grant money and be used to coordinate efforts with Adams County officials and departments.
SHEETS AVAILABLE
The large sheets of paper on which those at Wednesday's event used colored dots to indicate the relative importance of each subtopic in six key categories will be available for two more weeks for the general public to register its views.
The paper sheets will be at Riverside Center during that time, but will be moved to Spotlight on Decatur this Saturday at Bellmont Middle Schoo, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Those who wish to visit Riverside Center to register their opinions should remember that it is open from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Fridays.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 12 March 2010 )
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