By DEBRA HAIGHT
St. JOSEPH – With the summer growing season in full swing, it looks to be time for another kind of season for local and county governments. Several governmental entities including Berrien County and local townships and cities are in the midst of master plan updates.
At the county level, the master plan update is being done at the same time Berrien County Commissioners are taking the first steps in a new strategic planning process. The county has hired consultant Jim Hettinger to help them with the strategic planning.
While the two processes will go hand in hand, the focus of the strategic planning process is to help commissioners as they get ready to spend the $29.7 million the county will be getting in federal COVID relief funds this year.
Hettinger med with commissioners last week in the board’s first committee of the whole session in more than a year. The committee of the whole is designed to give commissioners a chance to discuss issues more in-depth. Another committee of the whole is set for this Thursday at 8:35 a.m. As with the county board meetings, it is available on YouTube.
“What I want to get at in the next couple of weeks is how we out a future of action in a post pandemic era,” he said. “It’s like strategic planning, but we’re coming out of something we’ve never been in before and entering into a set of circumstances we’ve never been in in before.”
“The federal funding will be available in the next couple of months,” he added. “This puts you in a position where can deal with changes and act proactively. You can stake out your territory and vision for recovery.”
County Administrator Brian Dissette advised commissioners to do their due diligence and think out their next steps. “I advise you to spend the next few months about seeing what’s best to spend the money on,” he said.
Dissette, Hettinger and Community Development Director Dan Fette said that community surveys will be part of both the strategic planning initiative and the master plan update.
Earlier this month, Berrien County Commissioners approved hiring the Grand Rapids-based Williams & Works firm to help the county with the master plan update. The company was the lowest bidder and will be paid $43,185 to conduct the work.
Fette said county planning commission members will be working with Williams & Works to review the current plan and see where they want to make any changes. They will also be seeking input from the public and local government leaders.
Fette said there certainly be many opportunities for public input and public review of the proposed new plan. The current plan was last updated in 2015. The state encourages governmental entities to update their master plans every five to 10 years.
County Commissioner Teri Freehling is the county board’s representative to the county planning commission and reported on the latter’s meeting earlier last week.
“We kicked off the beginning of the work for updating the master plan,” she said. “I would like to ask all of you (other commissioners) to your different communities and municipal leaders. If you have individuals you think we should speak with or ideas you want me to take back to the planning commission, let me know.”
She noted that master plans typically cover a lot of different topics such as economic development, infrastructure, transportation, agriculture and housing.
In working on its master plan, Berrien County joins several other entities that are in the midst of working on their own plans or have just completed them. The city of Niles and Pipestone Township fall in the latter category. Niles just approved their new master plan and Pipestone did so late last year.
Two entities are in the public review phase of the process. The city of Buchanan and Galien Township have proposed plans in place which the public can currently review. Those plans will likely be voted on and approved sometime this fall and people can view those proposed plans on the www.cityofbuchanan.com andwww.galientownship.org websites.
Planner Marcy Hamilton of the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission is working with both Buchanan and Galien Township as well as with Berrien Township which is nearing the end of their review. She noted that in the case of Galien Township, this will be their first master plan.
As the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission website explains, a community master plan provides a framework for a community’s decision making as they work to make residents’ dreams a reality. Master plans include history, trends, demographic projections and goals. “It is the community’s story of where it came from and where it is going.”
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