Much behind the scenes work has been taking place regarding the 2015 Vision. In October, we hosted another public engagement activity to specifically have citizens begin a more indepth dialogue on the West Haymarket expansion pillar.
It was a cold and rainy day but over three hundred people showed up and participated in the event. Results of that event were that a large percentage of the citizens were in favor of moving forward with the project. Concerns still needing to be addressed included: how was this going to be paid for and how were we, as a community going to deal with the infrastructure issues. Based on that public input, the City Council voted 7-0 to move forward with a redevelopment plan. The Mayor is now interested in moving forward with bringing the citizens of the community together to discuss priorities for his next budget. The primary question is "What are people willing to pay for?" That is a key question for this community, especially during this time when the budget is more than just tight. We are looking forward to working on this project with the Mayor's Office.