Rodney Swenk with the North Carolina Division of Community Assistance addresses a crowd of local residents during the 2010 Community Visioning and Action Forum held Sept. 20 in the Sparta School cafetorium. About 80 people attended the forum, which was slated to help scope out the town's direction for the future.

Vision 2010 Forum is held for Sparta

About 80 individuals attended a 2010 community visioning and action forum held Sept. 20 in the Sparta School cafetorium. The forum was a means for the community to receive updates and give input in reference to a master plan that had been introduced in 2005.

The attendants were invited to take part in one of seven different groups that represent goals in a "master plan" toward a 2010 vision for the town.

After being welcomed to the meeting by Sparta Mayor John Miller, Town Manager Bryan Edwards thanked everyone for coming.

"I appreciate your interest and your support for our community visioning program," he said. "If you're wondering just what this is all about, there are photos and more information as we go through the program. Generally, why we are here and what this is about is building a community capacity. How do we get things done? How do we improve our town and our community?"

In addition, the recent meeting was held to discuss strategies on how to get the strategies accomplished.

Edwards said, "To our benefit, as we begin discussing developing a master planning process, the NC Rural Center initiated a new program called NC STEP, Small Towns Economic Prosperity Demonstration Program. Sparta is one of 20 towns across the state selected to participate in the program."

Locally, the program is co-chaired by Joe Ward and David Isner.

 

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