Residents continue to MAP Elkhart

[APRIL 5, 2001]  Thursday was Elkhart’s Action Planning Session—the fourth meeting of their MAPPING process. For the past three months Nancy Richman and Steve Kline, of the Management And Planning Projects Involving Nonmetropolitan Groups program, have been guiding the community of Elkhart through the planning process for community improvement.

During the first three planning sessions, residents vocalized four main goals for improving their town, listed projects to reach those goals, and prioritized the suggested projects. The agenda for the Action Planning Session was twofold: List informational resources the community needs to begin the projects and plan the presentation for the entire town.

The meeting began with four different groups summarizing the projects they want to implement in the next three to five years in order to reach one of the specific goals. The four groups even separated those projects they definitely plan to pursue from those they hope to pursue.

The first goal the resident planners vocalized is to increase Elkhart’s population. In order to do that, the planners want to bring businesses to the town and expand the town’s utilities for businesses and homes. Other projects the group hopes to work on are advertising and community beautification.

The second goal, high-quality K-12 education, will be met by creating a community task force and ensuring the schools get proper funding. The group hopes to expand technology, begin a tutoring program and add to the extracurricular activities at Elkhart Grade School.

The third goal is to create a stable business environment. The one project slated to reach this goal is a new power generation plant. Other projects the group hopes to begin are a town grocery store and tourist or recreational attractions.

The fourth goal of a competitive, sustainable, convenient community will be met by increasing the amount of family housing. The group also hopes to begin a community day care center and welcome wagon.

Richman and Kline shared with Elkhart’s planners how impressed they were with each group’s detail. Not only had the groups brainstormed many community-improvement projects, but they also vocalized ways of measuring their progress.

Following the four group reports, Richman and Kline introduced Robin Hanna of Rural Economic Technical Assistance Center (RETAC). RETAC, just like MAPPING, is a branch of Western Illinois University’s Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA). RETAC is a funding resource for small Illinois towns. RETAC does not write checks but tutors communities in economic matters and points them to groups that do write checks.

 

 

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[click here to see the map full-size]

Hanna’s experiences provide him with ideas for helping communities. Throughout his presentation he shared stories of how other communities accomplished the same goals Elkhart wrote. He described how those towns overcame challenges in the same projects Elkhart envisioned.

Based on Hanna’s funding presentation, the planners noted resources he mentioned that they wanted: guidelines for zoning, information on attracting businesses, plans for developing housing and much more.

During one of the breaks, Lincoln Daily News was able to ask some of the planners why they had become involved in the MAPPING process. Jeff Gustafson, an Elkhart resident for three and a half years, believes that Elkhart is a special town and friendly community with a lot of potential. He sacrificed some of his vacation days from work to help other residents turn Elkhart’s potential into reality.

Another longtime Elkhart resident sees the MAPPING project as a key to the town’s growth. She said that there was a need to pull ideas, because in the past residents have held different opinions about community improvements. She believes that the MAPPING process will help to unify residents around one comprehensive plan.

That theory will be tested in the upcoming town meeting. On Thursday, May 10, the resident planners will present their goals and project ideas to the entire community. The planners hope to rally full community support for their vision and ideas. All Elkhart residents are invited to the 6:30 p.m. meeting at the grade school.

If the town meeting goes as well as all of the planning meetings, Logan County will see Elkhart begin to grow over the next three to five years.

[Jean Ann Carnley]


Designing a map for Elkhart’s future

[MARCH 26, 2001]  The residents of Elkhart do not want to just wait and see how their town will progress in the next five, 10 or 50 years. The residents prefer to shape their town’s future. They invited the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs (IIRA) of Western Illinois University to guide them along their journey.

Western Illinois University developed the IIRA to serve as an "ongoing source of information, research, education, and technical assistants regarding a variety of issues affecting the future well-being of rural Illinois." The institute has several divisions: The Rural Transit Assistance Center, The Small Business Assistance Center, The Rural Economic Technical Assistance Center, The Business & Industry Data/GIS Center, The Center for Competitive Government, and Mapping the Future of Your Community.

Elkhart Mayor Dayle Eldridge contacted the MAPPING branch of IIRA. MAPPING stands for Management And Planning Projects Involving Nonmetropolitan Groups. Eldridge said that since becoming mayor, she has noticed a growing interest among residents to improve and expand their community.

The mayor thought of two community-improvement resources: hired planners and IIRA’s MAPPING. She did not like the idea of hiring a planner. Besides the great expense, planners come in, give suggestions and leave. Eldridge was concerned that this approach would not spur a lot of community involvement and willingness to work.

Eldridge had heard of MAPPING through her job at Healthy Communities Partnership, and she appreciated the program’s methods. MAPPING representatives facilitate town-planning sessions, but residents plan and execute their own project suggestions. Eldridge commented that the town may hire planners later for individual projects, but long after the community has already begun to work.

MAPPING "enhances local decision making processes by providing accurate information, effective forums for public dialogue and problem solving, and knowledge of innovative practices that are consistent with a community’s vision for growth and change." The whole planning process takes 12 to 16 weeks. Even after the planning is completed, MAPPING representatives still help communities by connecting them to the resources they need for their projects.

Eldridge complimented the residents of Elkhart: "I have been very, very pleased with the turnout we’ve got." She said that the planning meetings have attracted residents from a variety of ages and occupations. She is very excited about the community’s commitment so far to the three four-hour planning sessions.

 

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Thursday, March 22, was the third of the visioning sessions. It began with a PowerPoint presentation on Elkhart, but the bulk of the meeting was brainstorming. The attendees broke into four different planning groups—one for each of the town’s four high-priority goals. Every 20 minutes, the groups rotated to a new goal. They brainstormed brand-new ideas and projects or enhanced previously suggested projects. At the end of the goal rotation, the groups were dissolved, and the entire body worked on consolidating and prioritizing projects. Different individuals volunteered to focus on specific projects.

Elkhart’s four high-priority goals are to "Increase the Population," "Maintain & Continue Developing K-12 Education," "Strengthen & Sustain the Business Environment," and "Develop & Sustain a Highly Competitive, Convenient Community."

The next session, called Action Planning, will be Thursday, April 5, from 8 a.m. to noon. Committees concerned with individual projects will plan to present their ideas at the Town Meeting. They will also decide on the time, location and format of the community meeting. During the Town Meeting, committees of resident planners will unveil their high-priority goals and project ideas to the entire community.

Mayor Eldridge expects that this MAPPING process will yield community-improving projects for the next three to five years, at least.

Although IIRA’s fee is not as great as an independent planner’s fee, there is still a cost. Mayor Eldridge would like to thank the following Logan County businesses and organizations for donating the funds to pay for Elkhart’s MAPPING project: Corn Belt Energy, Needs and Goals, Illini Bank, CCA Online, Welch’s Agri-Business, Blue Moon, Myers Rabin & Hanken Association, Gwen Rosenfeld, Elkhart Christian Church, Lincoln Christian College, Elkhart Public Library, Talk of the Town, Davis Truck Services Inc., Elkhart Grain, STS Consultants, Village of Elkhart, Elkhart Homecoming Association, and Johnson & Johnson.

If you are from a small rural town in Illinois, and are interested in learning more about MAPPING, contact Nancy Richman or Steven Kline at (309) 298-2237 or (800) 526-9943. They have served communities of 300 residents to towns with over 15,000 residents.

[Jean Ann Carnley]

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