It's been a long time

Sometimes the progress of a Comprehensive Plan can seem glacial. That's especially true during the background phase, where there's a lot of data gathering going on. Like most things in life, the foundation is crucial, however, to a well-crafted Plan.

Nevertheless, we're a couple of updates behind, so we'll go back a little bit in time to March, when we held our first Visioning Meeting.

Approximately 35 people from Cornplanter, Oil City, Rouseville, and throughout the County attended that first meeting, held on March 27 in Rouseville. If lively conversation and in-depth discussion are any indicator, the session was a success. Attendees identified a number of issues that they perceived as threats and weaknesses and well as strengths and opportunities.

Results were combined into several groups:

• Social issues
• Infrastructure
• Government
• Economy
• Environment (things that can't be easily changed)

And while some topics could fit several different categories, there were some general trends that are both illuminating and not surprising. First, the not surprising. The issues that were identified as weaknesses and threats were (1) very similar to those identified by community leaders as central to the Plan (e.g., substandard housing), and (2) essentially the same issues that have been on the local radar screen for a number of years. There's nothing new here.

So it is legitimate to ask, "If the problems are not different, then why are we here?"

The answer? The problems might be the same, but the approach to the problems is radically different than it was even 10 years ago. That difference is critical to the success of this process and this Plan.

The biggest, and most important, difference is that all three communities are working together to solve the area's problems. By working together, Cornplanter, Oil City and Rouseville recognize that there is strength in numbers. And the State rewards such cooperation.

Multi-municipal efforts receive additional support and greater funding opportunities--and this is critical--even if the communities remain independent of one another. Communities are not required to merge to take advantage of Shared Municipal Services grants, or to have a housing rehab program in more than one community, as two examples.

Balancing the very different needs of three communities can be challenging. And part of the process of the background development is to compare perceptions with facts, to determine what's really going on. The Visioning meeting was a way of measuring perception. But it raised more questions than it answered, which is normal and expected.

Rather than tally every negative and positive comment (they're available from the Consultant, if you wish to see them), these three primary points are clear imperatives:

1. There is a belief that the roads are in poor condition generally. Yet routes 8 and 62 are considered strengths. Why is there a discrepancy? How can it be addressed?
2. The quality of the water is a critical asset. Further, it's a two-fold asset. The municipal water supplies are considered very high quality, but the Allegheny and Oil Creek watersheds are recreational and biodiversity assets as well. The Plan will be well meshed with the Waterways study currently underway, but how can the crucial water supply asset be protected?
   
3. Recent studies have shown that many neighborhoods have substandard housing. Further, there are a number of vacant commercial buildings. What would it take to address these issues? (It should be noted that strides are being made in this area. Oil City just passed a Rental Ordinance, requiring rental units to be permitted. That's a huge step in the right direction in terms of ensuring the basic right of safe, sanitary, and secure housing for everyone.)

One other note. The Committee sent out more than 1,400 community surveys over the course of the last two months, of which 450 were returned--a huge response in the world of public opinion surveys.

We'll cover the surveys in more depth in the next update, but here's a hint, if you think you know what the surveys indicated, you're probably right--no matter which side of your neighbor's fence you're on. In other words, there are some deep splits, but not necessarily between communities. And, while there are some breathtakingly unhappy folk in Northern Venangoland, on the whole, people are concerned, yet hopeful that tomorrow will be brighter.

And we say, "It's your plan, please join us as we help you steer your community in the direction in which you want it to go."

The background phase is nearly complete and should be finished by Summer's end. The next phase then is the Plan, including the development of recommendations and action items, more public meetings, and the hammering out of proposed policies.