Commission Calls for Master Plan Update
By Karen Gould

Planning Commissioners want a progress report from the Master Plan Committee and have asked for an update when they next meet Tuesday, September 11. The Master Plan revision is the responsibility of the commission and Commissioner Mary Dufina would like to see progress made on completing the project. The committee has not met since last summer.

"Every month or year that goes by without an updated plan, which is overdue, the weaker our ordinance becomes," said Tom Evashevski, city attorney, who attended the Tuesday, August 7, meeting of the Planning Commission. He was responding to commission concerns over a lack of progress on the plan and how it impacts the Island.

The current Master Plan is now eight years old and was adopted August 4, 1999. State law requires municipalities to review and revise the plan every five years.

A city's master plan serves as a basis for its zoning ordinance. The ordinance, is the guide used by the planning commission and it is used to steer development to conform to what the community desires.

The new Historic Preservation Committee would use the Master Plan in its decision making as it seeks to protect the Island's architectural features.

A new committee appointed to study the future of the city's water and sewer service would reference the Master Plan as it determines the future of the wastewater treatment plant. A 180-day moratorium was set last month by City Council at the request of the Department of Public Works as the treatment facility has reached 85% of its capacity.

The Master Plan Committee, which first met in July 2005, is comprised of three members each from the planning commission, city council, along with city staff.

When the committee met last August, Planning Commission members included Mary Dufina, Bob Brown, and Kay Hoppenrath. City Aldermen on the group were Smi Horn, Mike Hart, and Dan Wightman. At-large members included Lorna Straus, Dan Musser III, and Phil Porter, and ex-officio members Mayor Doud, City Engineer Dennis Dombroski, DPW Director Bruce Zimmerman, Fire Chief Dennis Bradley, Police Chief William Lenaghan, ex- Superintendent Jack Dehring, Medical Center Director Don Weersing, City Attorney Tom Evashevski, and Mayor Doud's assistant, Kelly Bean.

The Planning Commission next meets Tuesday, September 11, at 4 p.m. on the second floor of Community Hall.