Town hall meeting set for Thursday at FSCC

The City of Fort Scott invites local citizens to a town hall meeting Thursday to discuss a new comprehensive plan for the city.

The meeting will be conducted from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Academic Building at Fort Scott Community College, 2108 S. Horton St.

City officials and staff members have been working on the new comprehensive plan since last spring. The plan will identify the needs and wants of the community. It will lay out a "road map" for achieving identifiable goals, according to an official statement from the city.

James Kaup, a Topeka attorney, and Wynndee Lee, a certified planner from Ottawa, were hired by the city to develop the plan along with new zoning and subdivision regulations. The plan is expected to be completed this fall.

An 11-member steering committee, led by local residents Crystal Mason and John Hill, have spearheaded the planning effort. The committee worked to conduct a community survey earlier in the year. More than 600 citizens responded to the survey and provided helpful information on perceptions, concerns, and desires of the community, according to the statement.

Preliminary findings from the surveys reveal that citizens have a strong sense of loyalty to Fort Scott, a trait that isn't present in all communities that have has similar surveys. Also, residents identified a few concerns, which included conditions of streets and sidewalks, more and better paying jobs, more economic development, improved appearance of property in neighborhoods, and lower taxes, Kaup said at a city commission meeting in May.

"Results of the survey will be an important part of the new plan," the statement said. "The steering committee urges all citizens interested in the future of Fort Scott to attend the meeting."

At the town hall meeting, consultants and committee members will ask for feedback from residents on the preliminary findings along with goals and objectives that have been identified so far, the release said.

Specifically, comments are needed on subjects like housing, economic development and maintenance of public and private infrastructure such as streets, sidewalks, houses and yards.