The city of Tioga has started its Tioga 2036 Comprehensive Plan process, and it's asking for help.
To have the best results, the city needs the input and participation of the people who live in, work in and visit Tioga.
'This will be a 10-year comprehensive plan starting from 2026,' said Cole Sorensen of GrantWorks, the firm preparing the plan. 'It will integrate Grayson County's existing mitigation action plan and make improvements to it. We will have a community survey and create a community inventory based on it. We plan to update zoning regulations and hopefully they reflect the community's goals.'
There is a community survey, available at bit.ly/Tioga-CommunitySurvey, where people with a vested interest in the community's future can go to share their input through. The survey will be available through May 16.
Sorensen shared some of the findings so far, including that Tioga is a 'bedroom community.'
'We found that 98% of people who live in Tioga work outside,' he said.
One of the goals identified so far based on the first 99 responses to the survey is that respondents want walkable neighborhoods and want to see improvements to the roadways and drainage in town.
Another focus the respondents prioritized was that of access to basic needs, specifically grocery stores and pharmacies.
During the first presentation on Monday, community member Dena Howard of Anedena Salon questioned the numbers for the projected growth of the town in the next decade, which Grant-Works had projected would grow to 1,500 by 2036.
'You're saying in 16 years, you only think it's going to go up 400 people?' Howard asked.
Sorensen said the estimate was based on Census data.
'We're probably past that now,' Mayor Craig Jezek said.
He encouraged Sorensen to visit City Hall to get current information regarding approved and proposed developments coming to Tioga that will drastically change those figures.
Sorensen agreed. 'Compared to a lot of cities in Grayson County, we've seen that Tioga has experienced a lot of growth, and we usually attribute that—I think it's because of the location,' he said. 'Tioga offers kind of a perfect mix of access to urban amenities and that rural lifestyle, too.'
The comprehensive plan is being funded through a Resilient Communities Program grant that GrantWorks is managing for the city.
There will be a second workshop, focusing on the goals and objectives of the plan, that will provide residents a hands-on opportunity to give their input.
For more information about the process, visit bit. ly/TiogaStoryMap.
Resident Ed Herl was one of the few residents in attendance Monday who had filled out the survey.
'I wanted to see what was going on with the response,' he said. 'The concerns were basically the road systems and drainage.'
