County plan addresses current, future goals
Staff reporter
The final public hearing for the county's strategic plan was held Monday.
Following the hearing and review of the plan, the plan was adopted by Marion County Commission.
The final document was presented to the commission by consultant Tom Brown of Savant Services, LLC of McPherson.
According to the plan, the vision for the county is to achieve a spirit of cooperation between county and local officials, business and agriculture leaders, and all citizens in order to achieve positive change and progress.
To continue to make Marion County a desirable place to live, work, and visit, the strategic plan addressed three areas — infrastructure and services, economic vitality, and quality of life.
The goals to improve infrastructure and services are to develop a long-term improvement plan and publish information annually that will explain infrastructure improvements.
One way the commission is considering to accomplish this is to develop a brochure that would designate current and future road projects.
Brown distributed a sample of a brochure from McPherson County that had a color-coded map with that designation. The map also could be available on the county's web site.
A second goal was to promote the protection of the quality of water and the adoption of water conservation practices. This also addressed the pursuit of grants to better deal with algae and other toxins that may arise at Marion Reservoir.
The plan encouraged residents to recycle. Brown said it may become feasible for the county to consider a local or regional landfill instead of the expense of hauling solid waste to other areas.
However another way to reduce the cost of solid waste is through recycling.
A fourth infrastructure goal is to appoint a county task force to study alternative management and administrative practices, including the consolidation of services. This would make county services more cost efficient and programs more effective.
The first goal for economic vitality is to develop a plan to improve field drainage, maintenance of ditches, and improvement of farm-to-market roads which would improve agricultural opportunities.
The next goal is to modify the current general land use plan and examine zoning philosophy and practices.
When a Marion County Economic Development Coordinator is hired, that person in addition to his/her marketing and promotion responsibilities, he/she also will have the responsibilities of developing a resource and training center for various community economic development councils within the county and to develop county tourism.
A fourth goal is to create a Marion County Housing Committee to study and adopt solutions to provide more affordable homes for ownership and rental residences.
Goals for improved quality of life are to develop a spirit of cooperation with county and local officials, prepare Marion County youth for the workplace through work force development, expand annual events to include at least two water recreation events, promote volunteerism to maintain clean county roads and beautify dilapidated sites, create a greater awareness of community youth programs, and study the feasibility of county communications using the Internet or cable television for broadcasting news, events, and advertising within the county.
Brown encouraged the commission to become involved with a regional workforce group. He will set up a meeting with Bob Dalke, the director of the group.
Also included in the plan was statistical information that compared Marion County with neighboring counties.
The median income for county residents is $35,315 but the average wage earned by residents is only $19,279.
Marion County ranked 70th out of 105 counties in the state in a strength index. The index measured wealth, personal income, and employment to determine the county's prosperity.
In 1999, Brown said the county was ranked 99th.
The completed plan will be distributed to the cities of Hillsboro and Marion for ratification and then sent to the state per state statute.
