Planners explain Franklin County's options

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Denise A. Raymo
Denise A. Raymo
Denise A. Raymo

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September 17, 2009

By DENISE A. RAYMO The Press Republican Fri Sep 18, 2009, 05:07 AM EDT

MALONE — To have effective planning, Franklin County would have to commit money — and realize the return would come through raising its global profile and the local tax base.

That's according to three experts in the planning field, who participated in a roundtable discussion this week that allowed the 25 stakeholders in attendance to glean information on their experiences and learn what it would take to create a planning entity here.

Legislators have made the issue a priority in the past few months but are unsure how to proceed without costing taxpayers too much or leaving out smaller communities.

COMMITTEE URGED

All the speakers — Ontario County Planning Director Kristen Hughes, St. Lawrence County Planner Keith Zimmerman and Village of Potsdam Director of Planning and Development Fred Hanss — advised Franklin County not to expect grant funds to finance a planning effort.

Instead, the advice was to form a committee of volunteers dedicated to the cause and willing to do the legwork that would persuade the county to hire staff to prioritize and carry out the needed tasks.

The volunteers could be plucked from those who gathered this week, since each represented a particular government or segment of the region, such as chambers of commerce, villages, towns, the Farm Bureau, revitalization, state authorities, educators and community developers.

FOLLOW-THRU

Hughes, who is also president of the New York State Association of County Planning Directors, said Franklin County could continue as is and hire consultants on an as-needed basis, but once grant money is spent, the person no longer has an ongoing relationship to the project or community.

A county-level planner would always be involved locally, yet have an outsider's perspective to see if a project is worth pursuing and what's working, development and planning-wise, and what is not.

But planners can be costly because their expertise is so valuable, Hughes warned.

SCATTERED FOCUS

Hughes said county planning is already going on, but it's fragmented in each department, with no sharing of data or pooling of resources.

"You're throwing (grant opportunities) at whoever you think can handle it, but it's staff that is already paid for doing something."

By streamlining resources and consolidating information from each office, "you'll see an increase in revenue and opportunities within a year by making a concerted effort," Hughes said.

SMALLER TOWNS

Another issue involves smaller communities that often lack funding to hire consultants or have a limited tax base to tap for development.

They also face competition for grant funds against larger neighboring communities.

"We go in to help communities address the issues the communities know need to be addressed," Zimmerman said. "We don't worry about boundaries. There's only one economy, and we're all in it."

Hanss said Potsdam's municipal law requires that he use the expertise at Zimmerman's office, but the final decisions on what projects move forward or which grants are pursued still lie with the elected officials.

"Towns and villages ought to be doing work for planning as a matter of course," he said, including developing a written comprehensive plan for development.

E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com