The city’s comprehensive plan will hit the road over the next several weeks, visiting civic clubs and other organizations as the city and the plan’s authors gather public input on the final draft.
During Monday’s public hearing at the Snyder City Council meeting, several questions were asked about the public’s access to the plan before it was approved.
Council member Luann Burleson said she thought it should be presented to civic groups and senior citizens. City Manager Merle Taylor said that was done early in the project’s development.
“We spent a lot of time and money on this and now it seems it’s just here,” Burleson said. “We need to get it out there. It’s a big deal.”
Council members Steve Rich and Steve Highfield said the plan was important.
“The more available it is to the public, the better it is,” Highfield said.
Former council member Ron Shaw said the city’s last comprehensive plan, which was printed in 1971, sat on a shelf and that public support is important to making sure the current proposed plan becomes a working document.
“The city needs to promote avenues where the public can see it, have input on it, prioritize and find ways to fund it,” he said.
The Snyder Daily News posted a link to the plan on its website on Wednesday. Despite the link being taken down for a short period, between Wednesday and Sunday the plan was viewed through the newspaper’s site 60 times by 33 different people.
Former business-owner Bill Robertson said after reading about the plan and public hearing in the Snyder Daily News, he had read the plan and appreciated the council for supporting its creation. He encouraged the council to pick a place to start and to ignore what had been done in the past.
“You’re going to get a lot of negatives, but I encourage you to say, ‘we’re going forward, not backward,’” Robertson said.
He encouraged the council to prioritize action items that will diversify the local economy as well as draw just a fraction from the more than 770,000 people who live within a 75-minute drive of Snyder.
“In 25 years, wouldn’t it be great to follow this plan and not need an oil check?” Robertson asked. “I’m encouraging this council and future councils to take advantage of new opportunities while still maintaining and improving the expected things.”
Printed copies of the final draft are available at Snyder City Hall and the Scurry County Library, as well as online at snyderdailynews.com, by clicking on the yellow button on the upper right side, and the city’s website at ci.snyder.tx.us.
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