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Imagine that you could actually have a say in where Warsaw's future industry will locate, where new housing will be built or where major transportation corridors will develop.
You can.
Deciding where - and how - Warsaw will continue to develop and expand will be the topic Thursday at the second public meeting on the city's proposed master plan.
Public attendance at the previous meeting was minimal, and city planners Pat Hudson and Jeff Noffsinger admit that the term "master plan" gets more yawns than excitement from the public. Still, they said, if residents are at all concerned with the future of their city, this is the time to speak up.
"It's all about how you value your quality of life in the community," Hudson said. "If people feel that this affects part of their life in the community, then they should get involved."
A master plan, they said, is a blueprint for the city's future. It should identify and analyze such areas as transportation routes; projected growth of residential, industrial and commercial districts; greenways; peripheral land use; and infrastructure, such as sewers, electrical lines and other utilities.
For example, the final master plan will list goals and objectives that may include improved lighting at city intersections; frontage roads to handle increased commercial development on U.S. 30; greenways through town for bicycle and pedestrian traffic to the CCAC or around lakes; a second sewage treatment plant to handle increased growth; and wetlands, or areas that need less intense use.
Initial research for the master plan is being done by a consultant, Cole Associates, with project manager Pete Fritz. At the first meeting, in March, Fritz said, "We're looking at planning as a natural process that communities do as they evolve."
Local input is emphasized by using an advisory task force, which includes representatives from city and county government, business, education and the public. The advisory board, Hudson said, "adds community sensitivity and history, which is an important perspective from community members."
One area that will probably be included in the goals and objectives, Noffsinger said, is the development of greenways for bicycle and pedestrian traffic. He has been actively pursuing this idea, starting with a route to allow bike traffic to and from the CCAC. He will make a presentation to Warsaw's Board of Works Aug. 15 on a possible grant to build the greenway.
#Hudson said the Warsaw Plan Commission will be in charge of implementing the master plan, and three Plan Commission members are on the advisory board.
The master plan meeting is set for 7 p.m. Thursday in the city council chambers.
