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REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 23, 2006 <br />involved in youth mentoring programs. Strategy five increases public participation, a key <br />idea is to develop a public involvement plan that will establish standardized methods for <br />gathering and disseminating public information for small, medium or large projects and <br />programs. Develop a youth volunteer base that can be tapped into for different volunteer <br />opportunities that exist in the community. Strategy Six is to insure quality design and <br />physical development. Standardize the current land development improvement process. <br />Develop ways to make this process more efficient and spark more development in the <br />area and by analyzing City Ordinances to make sure that the plans and recommendations <br />are integrated into legal ordinances such as zoning and subdivision. Strategy Seven is <br />raising public awareness, educating property owners on maintaining their property and <br />then developing a public awareness campaign that highlights environmental issues and <br />educates the community on them. Strategy Eight is conduct analysis and planning. <br />Develop benchmarks and indicators to measure progress towards the strategies that were <br />just mentioned. Measuring progress will make sure that the ideas are implemented and <br />an integral part of this comprehensive plan. Another key idea is creating a strategy to <br />address vacant properties. <br />Mayor Luecke stated that this is certainly a comprehensive plan, reaching goals and <br />objectives with a plan in place for implementation. Mayor Luecke stated that this is a <br />guide that the Council does retain its discretion when any individual zoning action is <br />brought before the Council. He stated that this comprehensive plan offers a significant <br />guide and blue print for South Bend’s development moving into the future. <br />Mr. Wayne Curry, Chairperson, Economic Development Panel. Mr. Curry stated that <br />this was a lot of work. He stated that they interviewed a lot of people, held a lot of <br />meetings, wording, rewording. He stated that they interviewed a lot of wise men in the <br />City, regarding all the problems in the City and brought those issues to the table. The <br />current administration took everything with a grain of salt and dealt with all the positive <br />and negative issues, and put that into the City Plan that they can work with to make the <br />City a better place than it is today. <br />Mr. Arnold Sallie, Granger resident. He stated that he is a part of the citizen panel that <br />helped champion this plan. Mr. Sallie stated that he is not speaking on behalf of the <br />administration, but on behalf of all the citizens who really support this plan. Mr. Sallie <br />encourages the Council’s support. <br />Mr. Roy Prince, Jr., 1009 Quimby, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he is a member of the <br />Civic Alliance. Mr. Prince thanked the city administration for letting residents be part of <br />the process. A previous plan drafted in the 1960’s only had the voices of “experts” and <br />not the residents of the city, he said. This time around, people had a change to put forth <br />their visions for the city. Mr. Prince stated that originally they were told that this project <br />would take twelve to eighteen months; it turned out to be more like three years. But that <br />was okay with him, it was a labor of love actually, because everyone volunteered for this. <br />The Civic Alliance’s main goal was to be a steward for the people of South Bend. <br />A Public Hearing was held on the Resolution at this time. <br />Councilmember Varner asked if the resolution includes the three pages of revisions and <br />does the final download draft have the corrections made? <br />Ms. Meyer stated no, they cannot make the corrections until the bill goes back to the Area <br />Plan Commission. When the Area Plan Commission makes that approval then the final <br />document would be printed and provided to the Council and on the website would have <br />those corrections in it. <br /> There following individuals spoke in favor of this Resolution. <br />Ms. Penny Hughes, 1918 Southernview Drive, South Bend, Indiana. Ms Hughes stated <br />that she has been a resident of the City for approximately forty-four years. She stated <br />that she is here tonight to thank the Council for all that they have done for the City. As <br />you drive around and see Scottsdale and what has happened to that with all the new shops <br />and you go out to Portage Prairie and you see all the new development and the businesses <br />19 <br /> <br />