More than 50 Albert Leans took a hard look Tuesday at the most up-to-date version of the city’s new comprehensive plan, which is nearing completion.

Using green, yellow and orange stickers, they indicated whether they agreed with, were cautious about or disagreed with portions of the plan. Then in the next few weeks, those stickers and the explanations that went along with them will be summarized and any necessary changes to the plan will be made for it to move through the adoption process.

To be adopted, a comprehensive plan has to be approved by groups such as the Albert Lea Planning Commission and the Albert Lea City Council. There will also be several public hearings.

“Before you reject an idea, make sure you fully understand it,” said Brad Scheib, project manager with Hoisington Koegler Group Inc., who has been formulating the plan.

He encouraged people to keep an open mind when reviewing the comprehensive pan and to get involved reviewing the document more thoroughly if desired. Productive dialogue is always helpful in a situation like this, he said.

Albert Lea’s last comprehensive plan — which takes into consideration many aspects of the community including housing, the downtown, traffic flows, and parks and recreation — was made in the early 1970s.

It will give direction to many of the future decisions to be made by the Albert Lea City Council and other city commissions.

Some of the areas for concern during the Tuesday meeting were the Bridge Avenue expansion, as was expected, along with concerns about the Blazing Star development.

But, people were also excited at the opportunity to participate and liked the idea of investing in our existing resources, Scheib said.

“I think they’re going in the right direction,” said Albert Lean Karen Mattson. “But I just hope that they go ahead and do it and not be at a standstill. We’ve sat dormant too long.”

She said she was worried about how long it would take to develop the plan and put it in place.

Jeanette Mortenson said she appreciated the young people who have stepped in to develop this plan.

“We need strong leaders who will stick with it,” Mortenson said.

Before residents started pointing out some of their concerns or their approvals, Scheib gave a brief overview of the plan.

Some of the issues he touched on include transportation, water practices, parks and trails, growth management, land use, green energy and guiding principles for the city.

A lot of the information came about after the first community meetings and the Albert Lea Listens process, the Minnesota Design Team and the Land Between the Lakes Action teams.

“A comprehensive plan is a dynamic plan that’s meant to evolve and grow,” Scheib said.

It is never etched in stone, he said. But it is a broad vision of how the community wants to see Albert Lea grow over the next 20 years.

If community members indicate any substantial departures from what was already formulated for the plan, the steering committee will take a step back and rework those parts. If there are no major departures, they will start fine-tuning the document to get it ready to move forward.

The next steering committee meeting will probably be in a month to review the findings, he said.

People can download a full version of the comprehensive plan on the city’s Web site, city.albertlea.org. Then click on “community development,” then on “comprehensive plan.” Feedback can be given on the site.

Hard copies of the plan will also be available at the Albert Lea Public Library for review.