A public meeting will be held next week to present the first draft of the Wetumpka Downtown and Riverfront Development Plan. And excitement is building around the “reveal.”
“I haven’t seen it yet,” said Barry Mask, executive director of the Elmore County Economic De vel opment Authority (ECEDA). “I’m waiting like everybody else. I hope to get a sneak peek at it the end of this week or the beginning of next week.”
The City of Wetumpka contracted with ECEDA in mid-2011 to be the project manager of an effort to determine possibilities for revitalization in the downtown and riverfront areas of the city.
Sasaki Asso ciates, an internationally recognized planning company, was retained to develop the plan. Information, ideas and opinions from various sources are being used to fuel the effort.
“Next week they will be showing some of the themes and ideas that have developed through committee input as well as the economics report,” said Mask. “They’ll have some schematics and some placements to look at.”
In addition to allowing a first look at the new plan, next week’s meeting will also solicit reactions from attendees.
“It will be the first crack for people to see it and say if they think it’s on target,” Mask said.
He noted that much work remains to be done between the upcoming meeting and the final plan – scheduled for completion in late June.
“We have a lot of input to go, and a lot of public meetings to go, between now and June,” he said.
Mask said two additional input meetings will be held – one in mid-May and the other in mid-June.
“The recommendations that come out of those will be used for the final development plan, and there will have to be an implementation plan,” said Mask. “The main thing is to get people to agree on ‘This is what we want, this is what we can do.’ We may even see some small catalyst projects or some alternates and options.”
Mask said he has confidence in the results Sasaki will produce.
“They’ve just been named top planner in the country by the American Society of Landscape and Planning Architects,” he said. “This is the same company that worked on Montgomery’s riverfront development 10 years ago.”
The meeting will be held at First Baptist Church, 205 W. Bridge St. in Wetumpka on Thursday, April 26 at 5:30 p.m. Visit www.elmoreeda.com for additional information regarding the Wetumpka Downtown and Riverfront Development Plan and meeting dates.
The cost of researching and developing the plan totals $150,000, with $75,000 paid to ECEDA in the fiscal year just ended and the remainder to be paid in the current fiscal year.