Other communities are planning for the future and working together to make things happen in big ways for their community. Henderson has begun the journey to figure out what direction their community will be going for the next 50 years. What is Frankforts vision? Do we even have one? Or will we be reactive and slow to make things happen that put us at a disadvantage to our surrounding communities? ---------------------------------------------------- Firms want city to ‘buy in’ to future Gleaner, The (Henderson, KY) - Wednesday, July 30, 2014 A special committee spent all day Tuesday listening to four firms compete for the chance to help Henderson craft a vision for the future. The city’s Visionary Plan Committee took no action at the end of the day. That won’t occur until Aug. 11, at which time it will make a recommendation to the Henderson City Commission on which firm to hire. Significant differences were heard from all four firms, but there were also more than a few common themes. Probably the most crucial, all agreed, is the need for community involvement from all levels of society. “You need that community support or it’s just going to sit on the shelf and nothing will get done,” said Benjamin Bontrager, planning director of American Structurepoint Inc. of Indianapolis. Most of the firms used the term “buy-in” to describe that community support. “Buying in is so important; they have to feel like they own a piece of it,” said Tom West, vice president of Thomas P. Miller and Associates of Lexington. That firm is assisting with the bid of Beasley Enterprises of Henderson. “These ideas have to come from the community or at the end you won’t get that community buy-in,” said Amy Williams, a principal with the TSW Design Group of Louisville. Buy-in doesn’t necessarily mean consensus, she said, which is usually impossible. But the plan needs to reflect every viewpoint. “You need to be able to see where your input made a difference.” Devin Lavigne, co-founder of Houseal Lavigne Associates of Chicago, had a little different perspective on the “buy-in” term. He prefers “stewardship” because he thinks buy-in is just another word for persuading people to go along with your idea. “We didn’t like the sound of buy-in,” he said. “We wanted to build a relationship with the communities. Everything we do is unique. Everything is built from scratch.” The other firms, however, made similar points, noting that nothing works without the community’s input. West said he wants local residents to “stretch yourselves” and think big. “We want to inspire the leaders of tomorrow.” “There’s a fine line between visioning and hallucinating,” Lavigne said. “We try to stay on the vision side of it.” An important part of a vision, West said, is that it contains “some strand of authenticity. It has to be Henderson.” “It’s about creating a sense of place,” said Scott Siefker, who provides the S in TSW. “Making sure you don’t lose that history and culture is extremely important,” said Williams. “Because you can never get that back.” “But you don’t want to Disney-fy it,” because people quickly sense when something’s fake, said Scott Southall, vice presidernt of CDP Engineers of Lexington, which is assisting TSW. The coming of Interstate 69 was mentioned by all four firms, and there was consensus that it must be dealt with in the planning document. “When you put that ‘I’ before any road it changes people’s perception,” said Williams, noting the interstate will be key to economic development. “Whether you love it or hate it, it’s a big thing that you have to plan for.” Bontrager said the final document will help the community pull as a team. “You have to know where you want to get to. Without that shared vision, you may have a lot of people doing great things but they may be going in different directions.”
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 12:27:52 +0000
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