As previously discussed here I attended the Comprehensive Plan Breakout Session for businesses on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. Mr. Ralph Winters was also at that meeting and made a statement I thought was somewhat profound. I jotted it down so that I could get it right. “We are not so much a resort community as a community of second homes.” That idea resonated with me… While we do have lots of “rentals”, we do not have any hotel space to speak of. The Cove has mostly gone private, to the point that I don’t remember the last time I saw a conference there. This suggests a different kind of resort community.
The work on the new comprehensive plan has begun and I attended three meetings in this week. On Monday evening there was a Steering Committee meeting with Houseal Lavigne where we were given information regarding doing small group outreach. This was for the Steering Committee to make presentations to groups that are unable to attend the regular community meetings or groups that have special interest. I honestly do not know how effective this will be since everyone on the Steering Committee is already active in the community as well as their individual businesses but it was an interesting exercise. I told the Town Manager, Dave Schoeff, that I would be willing to help with one of these, if approached, but I do see that I would go out looking for groups to give presentations.
In conjunction with and immediately following that meeting was the first community meeting. While participation was less than stellar (only about 25 people were in attendance) there were some consistent themes that came out of the meeting. It did not take long for affordable housing to bubble to the top. Unfortunately affordable housing is a hard one for people to get their arms around and everyone’s definition seems to be somewhat different. Probably the second most discussed issue which was touched on several times was “identity” of Culver, i.e. are we or do we want to be a resort community. (More on that later.)
Last night the Culver Chamber of Commerce sponsored a Community Conversation bringing together representatives of the Chamber, Second Century Committee, LMEC/F, Town Council, Plan Commission, Redevelopment Commission, the Town Clerk and Town Manager as well as others. Linda Yoder of the Marshall County Community Foundation was also in attendance. Dawn Brockey with the Culver Coffee Company and current Chamber President was kind enough to host the event providing wine and light appetizers for the group.
The goal was to discuss strategies to strengthen the business community in Culver. Ralph Winters brought up the proposed new Comprehensive Plan. I was asked to discuss how it would affect the community (20/20 Vision for Culver!) and there was a spirited dialog. There was discussion as to how the various groups could participate and what funding sources were available. One thing that Ralph emphasized was that everyone needs to read the current plan before we start on the revisions. I thought that was an excellent recommendation.
There was quite a bit of discussion on how to extend the business season beyond the summer. There was discussion of how the Triathlon, Winefest and Ice Fishing Tournament can help the retail merchants. (One sad note was hearing that the L’Max Film Fest will be moved to the Culver Academies and away from the downtown theater.) There was a request for brainstorming for other events like those. I’ve been negative on the Marshall County Tourism in the past, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear how they were helping with many of these events.
There was discussion regarding a need for a community calendar. I found that discussion interesting since there have been many attempts at this which have not gotten support. One of those, IHeartCulver, is still up, but struggling and close to being taken down due to lack of support. It would seem that an existing model such as that could be built on and support a local entrepreneur in lieu of reinventing the wheel.
All in all there was good discussion. It will be interesting to see how the Chamber moves forward with the input they received.
Jennifer Laurent, Executive Director of Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC), gave an update to the Culver Town Council last night. Aside from giving a report on some of the activities MCEDC is involved in throughout the County, she discussed some of the specifics for Culver. One these was her interactions with Elkay Wood Products, formerly Medallion Cabinetry. Jennifer facilitated a radio interview June 15th on WTCA with Rick Coffman, Operations Manager, to discuss what they do and what their plans for the future are. I think a key point here is that no one else in Culver is making these kind of contacts and making sure our largest industrial client is helped.
Jennifer also commended the Plan Commission and Redevelopment Commission for making the first steps towards a new Comprehensive Plan. (20/20 Vision for Culver!) She stressed some of the visioning needs that the plan should address along with the nuts & bolts infrastructure and land planning functions.
This is much like what I’ve been trying to promote with the various groups… We need to use the development of the new Comprehensive Plan as the catalyst for new ideas about Culver’s future. Communities are either growing or dying. Maintaining the Status Quo is impossible.
Jennifer is also working with Culver’s new Town Manager, Jeff Schoeff, to coordinate some training sessions for the Redevelopment Commission, Plan Commission and Town Council. One important topic will be TIF Districts. Others topics relating to finances and the various powers of these boards will be considered as well.
I hope the council members and those in the audience recognize the value Culver gets from leveraging their funds in with Marshall County and the other Marshall County communities. Budgets will no doubt be tight again this year, but without MCEDC, who would be doing these things for Culver? We have so many individuals with good intentions, but they can’t make up for someone with dedicated time and tenure based on performance.