Together Knox, an initiative to update the Knox County Comprehensive Plan, announced an Oct. 29 meeting in Mount Vernon to receive public input on their efforts.
The meeting, called “Focus on the Future,” will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Woodward Opera House, with the program beginning at 6 p.m.
Together Knox is an initiative of Knox County, the city of Mount Vernon, and the Knox County Regional Planning Commission. The cost of the project is about $250,000. Knox County is paying $150,000 of that, with Mount Vernon and the Planning Commission evenly splitting the other $100,000.
Knox County’s comprehensive plan was last updated in 2018. According to Together Knox, the “plan is a tool to prepare for growth pressure and acts as a guidebook for decision-makers. It serves as a foundation for land development regulations, zoning ordinances, budgeting decisions, and more.”
Jeff Gottke, President of the Knox County Area Development Foundation and project lead for Together Knox, described some of what will take place the meeting.
“There will be a number of stations set up around the venue for the public to offer feedback through comment cards at each station, or on their phones via a QR code,” said Gottke. “Each of the stations will also be available for view and comment on the website.”
At the stations, the public will be able to view draft principles and goals that will guide the final development of the plan. Gottke said, “the public can view and comment on goals for each principle, and the underlying data and public input those are all based on.”
In addition to the displays, there will also be a panel discussion with “speakers from Small Nation, OneColumbus, and Kenyon College discussing a range of topics relevant to Together Knox.”
All of this leads up to the final phase of finalizing the plan update.
According to Jamie Greene, lead facilitator and Principal of Planning NEXT which was hired to manage the update, “Before pivoting from the discovery phase to making recommendations, we will check in with the community and gain some additional perspective regarding prosperity, quality of place, well-being, and rural dynamics.”
Not everyone is confident that the plan update process will ensure adequate public participation. While there have been a number of meetings to collect public input and discuss the process, including those of the Together Knox Steering Committee, not all of them have been broadly announced to the public.
“I was not invited to Together Knox meetings but started attending because I care deeply about our community,” said Drenda Keesee, a candidate for Knox County commissioner. “I attended three Together Knox meetings since I was alerted there was a plan being created apart from the Knox Regional Planning Committee (and trustees) which had upset some county trustees.”
Gottke said much of the community input has been gathered through what they call "meetings in a box." These are when participants in the plan update process meet with local groups like the school board, historical society, church groups, and other stakeholder groups to gather input.
Keesee also pointed out low public participation in the community survey Knox Together conducted earlier this year.
“Most residents were not knowledgeable about the survey and only 2 per cent responded,” said Keesee. “The stated optimal goal of the consultant hired by Together Knox was 10 per cent participation.”
The Steering Committee for Together Knox is comprised of 35 members. They include elected officials like Knox County Commissioner Teresa Bemiller, Mount Vernon Mayor Matthew Starr and City Council member Amber Keener, Clinton Township Trustee Donna Hochstetler, Butler Township Trustee Doug Beckley. Also included are Knox County Administrator Jason Booth, Centerburg Local Schools Superintendent Ryan Gallwitz, and representatives of local businesses and community groups.
