Building consensus on a strategic plan

County planner reaches out to six communities

By LAURIE STUART

CALLICOON, NY — In a process easily described as educational, interactive and very grassroots, Sullivan County has begun to strategize its future.

Under the leadership of Sullivan County’s Commissioner of Planning and Community Development, Dr. William Pammer, and with support of key personnel from Sullivan County Workforce Development, Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development, a series of six meetings to gather input from Sullivan County residents is in the works. The first was held at the Delaware Community Center on July 6.

“We tried to gather a cross section of individuals, give them a little background about the county and the goals of the strategic plan, break them into groups and let them tell us what’s important to them,” Pammer said.

“The key message is that we’re looking to develop a close working relationship with the towns. Together we can identify key projects and then the county can find technical assistance to work on those specific projects.”

Through the involvement of other agencies in the preliminary stages, Pammer said that eventually, many of the issues identified— farmland and open space protection, community facility and transportation needs, housing needs, business and economic development and land use development—will need to be addressed by those specific agencies.

“All those actors are going to play a key collaborative role,” he said.

“The community feedback is critical for the workforce to put together our own strategic plan for focusing training dollars and our services to the business community,” Laura Quigley, executive director of the Workforce Development Board, said of her own involvement.

“It’s the best thing I’ve done after work in a while. I enjoyed it thoroughly,” she added.

Pammer said that a countywide survey would gather more information and that once the data was collected, a 28-member 2020 steering committee would be formed to work out the details of the strategic plan.

Future meetings are scheduled for Monday, July 19 at the Highland Town Hall at Two Proctor Road in Eldred, NY; Wednesday, July 21 at the Liberty Middle School at 145 Buckley Street in Liberty, NY; and Thursday, July 22 at the Town Hall Senior Center at 2948 Route 209 in Wurtsboro, NY. The meetings are scheduled for 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

For more information call 845/794-3000, ext 5028 or visit scgnet.us.