Hamlet’s comprehensive planning process is getting underway. On Wednesday, town officials met with representatives from HWC Engineering to discuss the process, according to Town Council Member Brian Earnest.
“So they just kind of walked us through the steps of how we’ll go about doing that and developing a steering committee of residents and business owners, different entities there, that can be on the steering committee,” he explains. “So we’re going to give them a list of some people who may be interested in being in the steering committee, and they will contact these individuals and get the ball rolling on community input on the comprehensive plan.”
In addition to the steering committee, there will also be a committee of various stakeholders, although town officials say there might be some overlap between the two groups. On top of that, Earnest adds that any resident will have the chance to offer input through community meetings and online surveys that will be shared on the town’s Facebook page.
Earnest says he came away from the meeting confident that HWC will do a good job. “They’ve done numerous comp plans for towns in the past, and they have a good understanding of it,” he adds. “It’s nice that one of the ladies who’s going to be one of the main people for HWC working with us, she’s served as a town councilman in a small town before, so she’s been on both sides of it.” However, Earnest says that Constellation of Starke’s selection as a Stellar Communities finalist means the town’s comprehensive planning process will be sped up.
During Wednesday’s regular town council meeting, President Dave Kesvormas said one thing he’d like to see addressed is the need for more housing, including the development of a lot the town currently owns.
