Long-term plan moving forward, chamber says
Published 12:00 am Friday, March 14, 2003
The elements of the long-term plan for the community being developed by the chamber of commerce, Greater Jobs and the city are beginning to become clearer.
Marge Hamersly, executive director of the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce, said the group working on the preliminary stages of the project has come up with a basic skeleton for the plan.
Hamersly said the plan will be a &uot;policy&uot; plan instead of an &uot;implementation&uot; plan.
&uot;We wanted to be as broad based as we can,&uot; she said. &uot;It’s going to be general. It’s going to be visual.&uot;
Hamersly said the idea behind a more broad-based plan is that the organizations who have specific projects can see how they fit into a larger perspective. It will also allow organizations with different projects to connect more easily with the larger scheme of projects.
&uot;What our community is looking for is a sense of hope, a sense of direction,&uot; she said.
The city is being represented by City Planner Bob Graham, Greater Jobs by Executive Vice President Pam Bishop and the chamber by Hamersly.
She says they have invited the county in as well for the preliminary planning. But they are waiting to invite more people in until they have an &uot;overall structure&uot; for their plan.
Hamersly then hopes that a facilitator can be hired and more groups can become involved in the planning for the five-year project. After the first plans are set, she said she invites input from everyone in town.
She added that by staying quiet, individuals are missing out on an opportunity to be involved in the &uot;planning of their city.&uot;
&uot;I think we are in a perfect time to be doing this,&uot; she said, pointing to the possibilities of tax-free zones, having new political leaders in town, the demolition of the old Farmland buildings and hoped-for downtown redevelopment projects.
&uot;One of the biggest benefits from this is that people will be able to actually see the progress in the city,&uot; she said. &uot;With a larger plan in place, the efforts of people will be more visible and more coordinated.&uot;