May 31, 2007

By Diane Chiddister

What is the best way to involve the community in the Planning Commission’s current review of the Village’s Comprehensive Plan?

Village Council members considered this question at their meeting on Monday, May 21, as part of a larger review of the 2007 Council goals.

The Planning Commission is in the process of reviewing the 2002 Comprehensive Plan and expects to complete the review by the end of summer, according to Village Manager Eric Swansen. The Comprehensive Plan “should ideally serve as the policy basis for subsequent decisions and efforts of the Village,” including capital improvements, development and zoning regulations and operating budgets, according to a report on the 2007 goals prepared by Swansen.

Given the importance of the Comprehensive Plan, Council should find a way to more effectively involve community members in its review, Council member Judith Hempfling said, and she recommended that the Planning Commission and Council sponsor a joint meeting for that purpose. According to Planning Commission Chair and Council member Bruce Rickenbach, the planners began the review earlier this year but have had little community input.

However, Planning Commission meetings could more effectively encourage community involvement, according to Joan Edwards, who stated that those who attend sometimes have to wait through lengthy considerations of specific plans before the planners consider the Comprehensive Plan review. Also, she said, the meetings tend to focus on technical details that can be difficult to follow.

“Please make it more interesting, something we can get our arms around,” she said.

Many community members are interested in being involved, Hempfling said, but may not be aware that the planners are currently reviewing the Comprehensive Plan.

But the Planning Commission’s agenda is announced each month, and still no one shows up, Rickenbach said.

“I’m not sure what you expect us to do differently,” he said. “The meetings are announced and open to the public. What do you want us to do?”

The planners should not need to “dumb down” their discussion or make it “entertaining” to the public, according to Council member Kathryn Chase, who said of the planners’ Comprehensive Plan review, “This is serious business.”

The planners will bring their revisions to Council for approval when the process is finished, according to Rickenbach. Still, now is the time for the public to be involved, according to Acting Council President Karen Wintrow.

“This is the time for the citizenry to be giving input into it,” she said.

In further discussion, Council members considered an update, prepared by Swansen, on Council’s 2007 goals. This year’s goals included 11 goals under three broad categories:

• Community planning: Develop an integrated planning strategy encompassing the community needs and values of a protected greenbelt, intact neighborhoods, walkability and bikeability, conservation of resources, affordability and commerce.

• Economic development: Develop a plan, in conjunction with community organizations, for economic development that considers the importance of all commercial, retail and residential districts, the need for technological advances like high-speed Internet and community values.

• Financial responsibility: Develop a comprehensive financial plan that maintains fiscal solvency, sustains desirable services as much as possible, balances the need for affordability and plans for capital improvements in a cost-effective manner.

Council members agreed that in the future Council goals need to be more specific to be workable.

“These are overarching goals and not achievable in one year,” Wintrow said. “For us to make a meaningful budget, we need goals with an achievable time frame.”

Council’s goal of enhancing walkability and bikeability will be addressed at an upcoming open house on June 12, at 7 p.m, at the Bryan Community Center. The open house will begin the process of addressing the Village’s need for sidewalk repair or additional sidewalks, especially on Xenia Avenue, Dayton Street and Fairfield Road. The public is invited, and homeowners on those streets are especially encouraged to attend.

A volunteer work party on the sidewalks, co-sponsored by Council and the Human Relations Commission, will take place on Saturday, June 16.

Regarding the goal of affordability, Hempfling suggested that Council invite Home, Inc. representatives to a meeting to give a presentation on their work. However, Wintrow stated that before doing so Council needs to “have a broader discussion of what affordability means.”

Council members also considered how best to address the goal of green space preservation. Council should consider first identifying what land parcels it wants to preserve, according to Swansen, and then sticking to that plan. However, Hempfling stated that the process “should be more fluid,” with funds identified for green space ready to use when land becomes available, a process similar to the one currently used by the Miami Township trustees.

“To get too concrete before we start thinking of funding is too rigid,” she said.

Council member Kathryn Van Der Heiden encouraged Council to start working on green space preservation. She also suggested that Council hold a special meeting to identify Council’s 2008 goals. Ideally, the 2008 goals should be in place before Council considers next year’s Village budget, since the budget should reflect those goals, according to Swansen.

“The sooner the better for goals,” he said.

In other Council business:

• Council considered a proposal from Wintrow and Hempfling for an energy task force, which had been revised from Council’s last meeting to address concerns that the task force’s charge was too broad, according to Wintrow.

This proposal identifies two charges for the task force. In phase one, it would issue a report on the state of the current electrical system, including its reliability, safety and demand capability. In phase two, the task force would provide Council with information regarding how to reduce current electrical consumption, including questions which need to be asked and sources of expertise needed to address those questions. The task force would make its initial report on phase one within 90 days of receiving Council approval.

Council members expressed overall support for the plan, although Rickenbach repeated his concern, expressed at an earlier meeting, that the task force be composed of people who truly have the expertise to address these questions.

According to Hempfling, she and Wintrow will return to Council’s June 4 meeting with a formal proposal for the task force, along with names of those who will sit on it.

• Council approved the first reading of an ordinance which amends Council’s investment policy to include Village Finance Director Sharon Potter in a supervisory role regarding Village investments. Currently, Village Treasurer Deborah Benning, in consultation with Swansen, makes investment decisions. She would continue to do so, with input from Potter.

• Council discussed a new system for planning agendas for future meetings. The agendas, prepared by Village staff, identify the part of a new “ready, set, go” process each agenda item falls into.

The “ready, set, go” process for agenda planning, which Council discussed at its retreat this spring, involves three components. The “ready” component involves Village staff looking at each issue and deciding what information Council needs to address that issue; the “set” component covers Council’s discussion on the issue, and the “go” component involves actions that Council takes.

While Hempfling expressed some discomfort with the system, other Council members said it seemed helpful to them. Council did not take formal action, but agreed to use the new system.

• Council’s next meeting will take place on Monday, June 4, at 7 p.m. in Council chambers in the Bryan Center.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com