Envision 2030 ideas already under way
Jennifer Sami
02/21/07
Local governments making progress on topics discussed
The Envision 2030 process was designed to obtain public input on ideas for the community, from transportation and education to green space and business. Now that the visioning process ideas have been collected, it turns out the community wants what city and county governments already have been working toward.
Developing an aquatic center, for example, is among the focal points for Envision 2030 Planning Group 3, which is the group responsible for discussing recreation and activity ideas for the community. While the idea was a popular one during the community-wide visioning process, it has also been a work in progress for the city of Cumming for the past five years.
The only thing standing in the way of actually constructing an aquatic center, said Cumming Mayor H. Ford Gravitt, is funding.
"The aquatic center has been a priority for the last five years, but we have to wait until we can take SPLOST [Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax] into it, to start bringing it to reality," he said. "SPLOST VI is going to have to come up to address some of these things that need to be done, and the [county] commissioners will be an integral part of this."
Cindy Mills, who serves both on the Forsyth County Parks and Recreation Board and in Planning Group 3, said the Envision planning process works to complement county and city government plans.
"It just reassures us that what we're doing is right -- what citizens want, and what is needed in the community," said Mills. "A lot of the ideas we have in place, the Envision 2030 process has expounded on -- it has made vision even clearer and I think it has been a wonderful thing."
Though the Envision 2030 planning groups have been tasked with organizing and planning ideas toward the community's future, funding is not part of the requirements toward developing a strategic plan.
While the city and county governments can work on the funding aspect, the vision groups, she said, can work on gathering information and formulating a plan.
Group members, she said, went to Gwinnett County and were in awe of the county's four pools, including a wave pool, a water slide, a room for just swim meets and lap training and a fifth pool which is currently under construction.
"We would hope whoever does our pool and whether it's in the city or Forsyth County, that we can have something equal to what Gwinnett has," she said. "This is not just going to be a pool, but a showcase for the county -- something that can be used by all people."
Gravitt, who has attended several Envision 2030 meetings said the process has brought the ideas, including those which have already been through local governments, to the forefront, involving community input in all stages of planning, to those who choose to participate.
"If we can implement these ideas and discussions, and bring them to reality, then it's all been positive," he said.
Another idea the city has worked on is creating a four-year university. Funding is also a key factor in realizing this goal, but so is interest from both the community and potential educators. The process also involves research, discussion with other counties housing universities and interested universities.
Otis White, consultant with project facilitating company Civic Strategies Inc., said there are no surprises that pending city and county projects are popular ideas among residents.
"The first meeting is information gathering, so a lot of what they're going to talk about in the information gathering stage is what [the community] is actually doing," said White. "The next step is how can we go beyond all of that. This is where you're going to see a little bit further extensions of things, and maybe some wholly new ideas."
After the community's strategic plan has been completed, the job is then up to the local governments to allocate funding and implement projects over the next 25 years.
Mills said that is when both the community and its government need most to work together, which is among the advantages of the Envision 2030 process.
"You can have all of the ideas in the world and if you don't have the funding, you can't have them done. You have to have political support," she said. "This is a great opportunity for the county and city to come together on projects, and to be able to do it in a way that joins the citizens of both together." | | Related Link
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