Committee to recommend firm for city's comprehensive plan

by Hillary Copsey
Senior City Writer

After nearly nine months of research, the Athens City Council planning committee will recommend to council a consulting firm to develop a comprehensive plan for the city's future.

"A comprehensive plan basically answers the question, 'Where does (Athens) want to go in the next few years?'" said Councilman Edward Baum, R- At Large.

Athens' comprehensive plan would address issues including zoning laws, public transportation, annexation of county land and flood plain development, Baum said.

Though the city could have developed an outline for itself, Councilman Dale Tampke, D-At Large, said council set aside $100,000 of the city's budget to hire a firm in order to ensure a thorough, unbiased plan.

"You could do it yourself, but sometimes it helps to have someone from the outside to help get different perspectives," Tampke said.

Baum said the committee would wait to contact the firm selected from the three finalists at a meeting yesterday afternoon until more of the firm's references could be contacted.

The committee will make the recommendation to council at its next meeting Nov. 5. Before that date, the committee is unable to release the firm's name, Baum said.

The selected firm has developed plans for other towns like Athens that have universities within them, said Joanne Prisley, planning commission chairwoman.

Council decided to make a comprehensive plan a priority last year because it had been over a decade since the last plans were made in 1991, Baum said. Also, citizens had shown a desire to know where the city was headed and to have a say in the direction, he said.

To get citizens involved, the consulting firm plans to conduct surveys of Athens residents to gauge their concerns about the city. Though some committee members said surveys were the best way to collect citizens' opinions, others disagreed.

"I think what surveys lack is the ability to get people motivated and therefore enthusiastic about the process," said Duane Jager, a community representative on the planning committee.

But the firm also plans to contact schools to gather information from future community leaders, a manner of information gathering some committee members said made sense.

"It's got pluses and minuses, but when kids do a project at school they bring it home," said Nicki Sherman, Near Eastside representative to the committee. "Maybe this is just another way to get the process moving."

Committee members will contact other cities that have worked with the firm and draw up a wish list of things they would like the firm to address in the plan before presenting the recommendation to council, Baum said.

Baum also said the council might consider waiving the three readings of the recommendation to hire and negotiate with the firm in order to finish the process before 2002 when any new council members elected next Tuesday will take office.

But if the firm is not hired by December, Baum said he still is certain the new council will continue the process.

"This is not going to go by the wayside," he said. "Both incumbents and others running are committed to this process."