Published: November 12, 2008 10:56 am      

Forums set to flesh out city's plan

Consultants hope to have draft finished by January

As the city of Logansport moves closer to completing its new comprehensive plan, organizers are inviting community members to attend one in a series of meetings aimed at refining the city’s vision.

Kevin Gardiner and Associates, the consulting firm working on the new plan, has scheduled three community forums this week to allow members of the public to offer their views on the goals, policies and strategies that should be included in Logansport’s comprehensive plan.

Community members need only attend one meeting as all three sessions will focus on establishing the priorities among goals, policies and strategies introduced during earlier sessions. Consultants and city planners are calling these sessions a “road test” for information gathered for the plan so that it can be refined into a first draft, according to a news release from the city’s planning department.

During the meetings, consultants will deliver a presentation of the planning process to this point along with a draft of the suggested policies, strategies and goals for the plan, according to the release. The discussion points for the meetings are based on feedback received during meetings and workshops conducted since the process began in early August. Audience members will also have a chance to respond to the suggestions, tell the consultants what points should be given priority and discuss anything that might have been overlooked.

Sessions between the consulting team, community leaders and members of the public have been aimed at gathering information to assemble a master plan, which the consulting team hopes to have in draft form by January. The plan will include the city’s strategies and policies for downtown revitalization, neighborhood preservation, trails and recreation, economic development/tourism, historic preservation, brownfield redevelopment and urban design, according to the release.

City officials are encouraging interested residents to attend regardless of their involvement in the process to this point.

In addition to the public sessions, the consulting team has prepared an online survey to gather additional feedback on some of the key elements in the plan. Community members are encouraged to take the survey before attending the meetings to give the consultants an initial sense of the community’s interests and priorities.

The survey, which includes a rough outline of some of the larger policy ideas for the plan, can be accessed through the city’s Web site, www.cityoflogansport.org. Additionally, the consulting team has produced a summary report called “Logansport Snapshot,” which provides an overview of the community’s history, prior planning efforts and population characteristics. That report is also available on the city’s Web site.



Want to go?

Three community forums have been planned for this week:

5:30-7 p.m. Thursday

LEDF meeting room, 310 Pearl St.

8-9:30 a.m. Friday

City Council Chambers, third floor of the City Building

Noon-1:30 p.m. Friday

City Council Chambers, third floor of the City Building



On the Web

A survey on key elements of the comprehensive plan as well as a Logansport summary report are available on the city’s Web site at www.cityoflogansport.org