Planning And Pizza

Back in February I completed a survey from St. Louis County 2050, which is charged with developing a comprehensive plan for the county for the next 25 years. The survey asked me what I thought about the current state of the county and how it could be better.

After I submitted my results I promptly forgot about the whole thing. Last week I received an email  inviting me to an open house to review the preliminary recommendations and give feedback. In addition to letting me playing a part in the future of the county, the email also promised a free dinner.

I've never done anything like this before, but it sounded interesting. I asked Hubby Tony if he wanted to go. He did. We put the event that was closest to our house on the calendar.

The open house was tonight, held in the recreation complex of a county park. After signing in at a table in the hall we both got a cup that held eight push pins and a promise that once inside the room someone would explain what those pins were for.

The 'room' was a large open area. There was a table by the door holding a projector playing a slide show of charts and maps that summarized the information from the survey. Easels holding large boards were arranged in a semicircle along the far side. We learned that each board had one category of preliminary recommendations. After reviewing all of them, we were to place a push pin on the eight recommendations that we thought were the most important.

Each board had one or two members of the planning team there to answer questions. They were very knowledgeable and easy to talk with. I walked back and forth between boards several times before deciding which items would get my pins.

Shortly after Tony and I finished they announced that pizza had arrived. We went through the line and also picked up ice cream from the cooler next to the table. After eating we decided we didn't have any other questions and decided it was time to leave. 

The last County comprehensive plan was adopted 40 years ago. The new one is supposed to be unveiled later this year. It will be interesting to see if any of my top priorities made the final document.