Council looks to visioning

By Diane Chiddister

At their meeting Monday, Feb. 4, members of Village Council took a first step toward initiating a community-wide visioning process as a way of creating a community consensus on a variety of local issues. The visioning issue came up as Council discussed specific ways to address 2008 Village goals.

Council agreed that at its next meeting, it will hear a presentation on a potential visioning tool, the Regenesis process. Council President Judith Hempfling said she also wants to hear from other villagers about alternative visioning tools.

At its last meeting, Council chose the following strategic 2008 goals:

1) Establish a plan that improves the economic condition of the community;
2) Deepen democratic decision-making processes with active citizen participation and effective representative governance;
3) Be a welcoming community of opportunity for people of diverse race, culture and income;
4) Develop a vision of a comprehensive land use plan;
5) Develop a comprehensive policy that will address global warming and reduce the carbon footprint of our community;
6) Strengthen the Village as an excellent employer and provider of services within a responsible fiscal framework.

However, several of the goals are interconnected and difficult to address without first identifying a community vision for the future, several Council members said.

“It all starts with a vision of economic development, zoning and land use,” said Council Vice-President Karen Wintrow, who said that in the past few years Council has been hampered by the lack of such a vision. “We’ve been spending the last two years reacting to what’s presented to us. We have no plan whatsoever.”

While villagers seem to agree on a variety of local values, including the value of diversity, the need for a small environmental footprint and the need for some form of economic development, there are also clear areas of disagreement, according to Council member Kathryn Van der Heiden, who identified those areas as how much the village should grow, and whether growth should stay inside current Village limits. Those disagreements have stood in the way of moving ahead, she stated, and a visioning process could help.

“Why do we keep getting stuck on the small percentage of things we disagree about?” she said.

In his recommendations to Council on implementing the 2008 goals, Village Manager Eric Swansen suggested a land use visioning process, which he identified as costing up to $100,000. Council President Judith Hempfling cautioned that that amount of money seemed too large, and that a visioning process could be very lengthy and keep Council from moving forward on its goals. In response, Van der Heiden said that she envisions a process that could be completed by the beginning of summer.

Several villagers urged Council to move ahead with visioning, although Sue Abendroth said that Council should choose a process that is “fair” and that is “managed by people who don’t have a preconceived notion of what we should be.”

But the visioning process should be managed by people who understand Yellow Springs values and challenges, according to Dimi Reber, who suggested that a study circle approach could work well.

The Regenesis approach will be presented at Council’s next meeting by Ted Donnell, who is married to Wintrow. Hempfling emphasized that she wants to consider other approaches as well, and welcomes input from villagers.

Regarding other goals, Hempfling and Lori Askeland stated they were ready to commit an amount to replenish the Village’s green space fund. While the fund has about $88,000 at the current time, that is far less than the amount it had before Council contributed more than $300,000 in 1999 to help purchase easements for the 900-acre Whitehall farm land. Hempfling, noting that any amount that Council donates for green space preservation will be matched by landowners and by federal grants, suggested a minimum of $50,000 for green space. In his recommendations, Swansen had suggested $30,000.

Hempfling also cited the Village’s unexpected revenues in 2007 of about $300,000, due to unexpected estate taxes and other sources, as a reason to move ahead with a green space fund commitment.

However, Wintrow and Van der Heiden stated that before replenishing the green space fund, they need to see the overall 2008 Village budget, which will take place at a special budget workshop Saturday, Feb. 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Council will continue to address specific actions on 2008 goals at its Feb. 19 meeting. At that time, Wintrow and Hempfling will present a recommendation regarding a Council workshop/retreat, and Council Clerk Deborah Benning will present information about how past Councils formed a Blue Ribbon Finance Committee, which Swansen has recommended as a step toward a responsible Village fiscal framework.

Council also agreed to request that the Human Relations Commission address questions to clarify diversity issues and make a presentation to Council before moving forward on that goal. Likewise, Council agreed to request that the Environmental Commission and the Electric System Task Force make recommendations to Council regarding ways to reduce the Village’s environmental footprint.

Council member John Booth was absent from Monday’s meeting.

In other Council business:
• Council heard the annual report of the Bicycle Enhancement Committee, presented by Tim Tobey. The group seeks to make the village more bikable and walkable, and as such is continuing to work with the Ohio Department of Transportation to widen State Route 343 so that bikers can safely travel to John Bryan Park. The efforts are moving slowly but are continuing, Tobey said.

Likewise, the committee continues to work with the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission to make the Northern Gateway project a priority. The committee has received a grant to begin planning a local effort for Safe Routes to School, a state program aimed at making routes to school safer for children to navigate.

• Council heard the annual report of the Yellow Springs Library Commission, presented by Becky Eschliman, chair of that group. In the past year, the local library was visited 136,273 times, with 188,098 items checked out in that time. Eschliman described several maintenance repairs that were made last year, including a moisture alarm that has alleviated sewer backup and roof drain repairs. Swansen has worked with the commission to negotiate a five-year plan for the library building’s needs, Eschliman said.

• Council unanimously approved a resolution that accepts the public improvements made to the Thistle Creek development and allows the Village manager to release financial sureties for completing improvements.

• Council will hold the next regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 19.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com