Interested in parks, the local economy, sidewalks and other things, about 65 people dropped in during the city of Statesboro's first two strategic planning input meetings, held at different times and locations Monday.
Another drop-in session is scheduled Thursday, this time on the Georgia Southern University campus. For Statesboro's general public as well as GS students and employees, it will open at 11 a.m. and close at 1 p.m. in the ballroom of the Russell Union student center.
Meanwhile, a survey for collecting the same kind of input is available on the city's website, www.statesboroga.gov.
The first two-hour input session was held early Monday afternoon in the social hall at Pittman Park United Methodist Church. The second meeting, in the same format, followed at 5:30-7:30 p.m. in the boardroom at the Bulloch County Board of Education office.
Dots a matter?
Each local person who attended received a set of yellow and red sticker dots. The red ones were for choosing items on a preprinted list beneath the question, "What needs improvement?" The yellow dots were for sticking beside items on the "What is important to you?" poster.
Instead of giving each person one vote on each topic, the dots allowed expressions of intensity.
"You got four red dots and four yellow ones, so if somebody thought the most important thing was nothing but parks, they could put all four of theirs there, but if they wanted to emphasize two or three or four items, they could spread them out," Frank Neal Jr., the city's planning and development director, explained Tuesday.
At the end of the day, items related to parks and economic development had the largest numbers of stickers on both lists, he said.
"Sidewalks were a big one, too," Neal said. "Those were probably the three biggest ones, and then everything else was pretty closely balanced."
The economic development item was actually listed as "attracting and keeping businesses in Statesboro" and was at the top of the printed list. But "building permits and inspections," a couple of items down, didn't get many dots. Neither did "overall city administration" nor "code compliance (and) enforcement," at least in the early going at Pittman Park.
Fire and police services garnered a number of yellow dots for perceived importance. Listed items also included garbage collection, recycling, sanitary sewer repairs, street maintenance and paving and bike lanes. Besides "local parks," a "multi-use trail" or "greenway" construction possibility got some dots. So did "community events." This is an incomplete list.
'Big idea' list
Besides the lists for sticker dots, there was a poster that started out blank except for the question, "What's your big idea for Statesboro?"
Desires for more restaurants downtown and suggestions for bike and walking trails were among the ideas that showed up there, Neal noted.
Leaders of the city government's departments, from the fire chief to the storm water program director, attended Monday's sessions. So did consultants from two firms working on the city's five-year and 10-year strategic plan, projected to be complete by August or September.
The city contracted Amec Foster Wheeler, an Atlanta-based firm, to develop the strategy with local input and a review of existing plans for a lump-sum fee of $28,500. Amec Project Manager Lee Walton spoke briefly, explaining the process, to participants at the start of the early afternoon meeting.
Amec has subcontracted Bill Ross of the firm Ross & Associates, who has worked with Statesboro before, for assistance.
"The idea is to try to get as much public input was we can, 'What do you really think about this?' or 'What is important to you as a citizen?' " Ross told a reporter. "Those answers will all be compiled and moved on to your City Council for information on what people in your city are thinking needs to be looked at."
Also Monday, the consultants had input sessions with the five council members and Mayor Jan Moore.
First two council members, then separately another two and finally the last member met with them, Neal said. If more than two council members had met at the same time, this would have triggered a legal requirement for prior public notice of a council meeting.
Survey online
City officials are asking people who live, work or attend college or school in Statesboro to attend the meetings and complete the survey.
To find the survey at www.statesboroga.gov, look at the "Latest News" block on the right of the city's homepage, and click "Read More" under the item about the strategic plan meetings. Another page should then appear with a "Take the Survey" button.
A paper version of the survey is also available at City Hall.
After Thursday's meeting at the Russell Union, one final input session is scheduled two weeks later. It will be held Saturday, May 13, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. in the Joe R. Brannen Hall, next door to City Hall on East Main Street.
With that meeting, representatives of the city plan to invite in shoppers from the Mainstreet Farmers Market down the street. The consultants are not expected to attend the second two meetings, which will be conducted by city staff.
Herald reporter Al Hackle may be reached at (912) 489-9458.