Most city residents who spoke in favor of a comprehensive plan, during a public hearing Thursday, served on the committee reviewing the need for a plan.
But they agreed the council should proceed with hiring a firm to help develop a long-term plan for the city.
The Columbus City Council earlier tabled a proposal from Birmingham, Ala.- based KPS Group, Inc., to develop the first phase of a comprehensive plan for the city.
Under the proposal, KPS Group would work with the city”s engineering firm, Neel-Schaffer, Inc., to develop and prioritize a list of previous plans done in the city.
The first step in the comprehensive plan process, as proposed by KPS Group, would cost the city about $17,400; the total cost for a comprehensive plan likely would be about $70,000.
Columbus Mayor Robert Smith noted the city has set aside $191,300 for the plan, leaving about $121,000 “to play with” after the plan is developed.
The council held the hearing Thursday to take public input on whether a plan is needed at the proposed costs to the city.
City Engineer Kevin Stafford noted other plans, including a transportation plan, a traffic plan, a downtown parking study and a paving program, previously were developed and are “still very applicable.”
“The problem is nobody has looked at them in their (combined) totality,” he said, stressing a need to review existing plans, the first step in the KPS Group proposal, to determine what areas are lacking and which areas are overlapping, among other things.
Stafford identified a comprehensive plan as an “overall strategy for how a city intends to shape itself” and noted comprehensive plans take community input into consideration.
Representing Mississippi Main Street Association, Jan Miller, who served on the city”s comprehensive plan committee, was the first to speak in favor of developing a plan.
“I think that it is time,” she said, noting her favorable experience working with KPS on various charette teams. “We”re strong, but our arteries are weak. Mississippi Main Street is committed to making this happen and I think the community wants this to happen.
“This is an imperative,” she added. “We need to spend this money and put the money in the planning process, then bring the community in.”
“I have concerns about the city”s financials,” said Berry Hinds, a resident who did not serve on the committee. “Potentially, we may have an even worse year (financially) next year. I”m one of those people who believe you should invest in the future and you”ve got to spend the money to do that.
“I still have some concerns,” he continued, referring to sidewalks and drainage issues in need of repair, as well as “things that can be done with the money.” “I”m torn. But I”m leaning towards the city needs to exercise constraints in spending. Yes, this is a great idea, but maybe the wrong time.”
“The city of Columbus is not just Main Street (and the downtown area),” T.J. McMullen, a resident of Ward 3, reminded the council. “I think the way we can move forward is find a way that intrigues people to stay in Columbus.”
McMullen suggested coordinating groups of volunteers to assess problems in each ward and help solve the problems through volunteer work.
“Volunteer work can go a long ways,” he explained.
“Get the right people on board,” urged District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks, who served on the plan committee. “We”ve got to get those that are stakeholders (like the Columbus-Lowndes Development Link and the county). We”ve got to erase the city/county line. I think all the players that have a stake in this community need to be involved.
“We”ve got to energize the people at the lowest level,” he continued. “We like to talk about maintaining the historic value of the community and that”s great. But let”s maintain the whole historic community. There”s a front door, but at some point we”ve got to make some effort at the back door, too. Main Street and downtown look great, but the further you venture out, it doesn”t look so good.”
The proposed soccer complex for the Burns Bottom area “is not going to be a panacea,” Brooks noted.
“We have a lot of things going on in this community that people don”t participate in,” he said, bemoaning a lack of community involvement in the city”s various offerings. “To make this community all we need to be, we”ve got to improve not just streets and buildings, but also quality of life. We”ve got to improve all of that. This is not going to work, if we don”t pull all the players together. Look from the front door to the back door, from Main Street to Railroad Street.”
Bobby Harper, who served on the comprehensive plan committee, suggested the council proceed with the first phase to better determine what remains to be done to have a full comprehensive plan.
“I think it”s all very obvious,” said Amber Murphree Brislin of Main Street Columbus “Every one here knows this is completely necessary.”
“This is not about downtown,” added Miller. “This is about Columbus, Mississippi and Lowndes County.”
Ward 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem agreed with Harper on the need for a “starting point.”
And Ward 6 Councilman Bill Gavin agreed with both Brooks and Hinds.
“It”s important the citizens of Columbus be able to see some sort of progress out of this,” he said. “I see both sides. I think we need to move forward with the plan, but I”m also concerned about the financial aspects.”
The council took the comments under advisement and did not take action on the plan.
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