Envision 2030 hosts its second planning meeting
Jennifer Sami
02/22/07
Groups gather at Otwell Middle School to collect ideas on improving community
While Cumming Playhouse director Linda Heard spoke to Envision 2030 Planning Group 2 about the history and present day arts in the community, Group 1 was busy placing stickers on top five priorities needed to continue building on the county's quality of life.
Each of the four planning groups met Tuesday evening at Otwell Middle School for their second of four meetings to gather community ideas and turn them into a plan. Group 1 will focus on balancing growth with the county's quality of life, Group 2 will work toward education and arts, Group 3 will look at improvements to recreational activities and Group 4 will tackle creating employment, protecting the environment and developing downtown Cumming.
"The first meeting was a big data dump, a lot of information was gathered. The second meeting, you're actually beginning to wrestle with the real assignments of these groups," said Otis White, project facilitator. "It's always a difficult transition."
To assist in the second-meeting assignments, White facilitated Planning Group 1, which was struggling to grasp the task presented to them.
"It was very hard for them to get their arms around this process idea. That's not what people are normally asked to do," he said. "But they got it. They got it enough that they said, 'Can we talk about this between meetings,' so I think they're into the process thing right now."
Group 1 is ultimately working toward establishing a group to collect and analyze data on an annual basis, and to determine the top indicators by which to evaluate the progress of expanding the community's quality of life. Ideas were discussed ranging from hiring a consulting firm to delegating two representatives from the city, county, chamber and school system, to establishing a non-profit organization comprised of citizens.
Having worked as a consultant on similar visioning processes, White said "nobody else has really nailed this thing. This is where Forsyth County can really stand out."
"It is really important you get this right," he told the group.
Forsyth County Coroner Lauren McDonald, a member of Group 1, said the group was up to the challenge.
"It was laid out on a plate to us. I think it's something Otis wanted to challenge us on, and he was letting us know how difficult this is by wanting immediate feedback," said McDonald. "The whole process is on the right track and is continuously moving forward. Eric Duncan and John Kieffer have put everybody to task on making sure this vision process has not been stagnant. Each meeting has progressed in us coming up with a master Envision 2030 plan."
While the debate continued in Group 1, Group 4 was working in roundtable form to target key priorities in developing downtown Cumming, making the community an employment hub and balancing the development with environmental preservation.
The group was broken down into four smaller groups. Each individual was asked to write down two big ideas for each of the three topics. Then the group worked with the written ideas to narrow the field to only three ideas they agreed on.
"We approached it a little different because we had a very large group and a very large topic. We wanted to come up with a structure that might help us get down to the meat of our topic," said Pam Sessions, Group 4 co-chair. "There were themes of great interest in master planning, infrastructure and in addressing the mobility positions both in the city and county and understanding what those might need to be in the future. There was a focus on the future, which was somewhat tied to an understanding of what we know today."
Sessions said over the next meetings, the group will continue to massage the ideas to come up with the defining ideas for each topic.
"But right now, we're on a very good track with consistency and thought, and there is enough diversity in our group that everyone wasn't thinking alike. There was a lot of thinking and input," she said. "I don't think we're there yet, but I think there was great progress."
Group 3 worked on ideas ranging from fitness trails and chess benches to less likely ideas of paintball and an ice skating rink.
While an aquatic center is in the works within the city, more than one aquatic center, said group members, will be needed to accommodate all ages and purposes.
Group 2 spent some time listening to representatives from the library, school system and city. When the speakers were finished, the group split into two smaller groups, one focusing on the arts, and one focusing on education. Both groups were working toward the same goal of creating a community of lifelong learners. Speakers for the next meeting are already lined up, including representatives from Columbus College and North Georgia College and State University.
In total, more than 90 community members attended the second meeting. The third meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 15 at Otwell Middle School. | | Related Link
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