The Levee Park Committee in charge of revitalizing Winona’s underutilized river park wants to make sure the park’s plan doesn’t end up forgotten on a shelf.
Members worry that if the Winona City Council, which will make the final decision on any plans, gets one large recommendation it might be too grand of a concept – and potential price – for the council to jump on board.
The group decided it would break down each section of the plan — which was submitted by consultants — to make proposals more manageable and easier to prioritize.
“If we send just one item and say it’s what we want, there’s a real chance that we end up on the back shelf like many plans have,” Committee Chairman Frank Pomeroy said.
That’s why the committee spent Tuesday’s meeting hashing out how to strategically move the plan forward and present it to the council – which they plan to do in June.
The committee was also a bit worried that if the plans weren’t moving forward fast enough the public would lose interest.
“There’s a fear of getting bogged down and having nothing happening,” said committee member Owen Warneke.
To ensure the momentum continues, some members wanted to concentrate first on short term goals that could be easily accomplished. It would let the public know work is in process and would give the council small bites of the project that could be easily chewed and financially managed.
Others cautioned that concentrating on small goals could leave out the big picture and instead delay the grand plan.
“I would just caution that we don’t recommend a bunch of temporary fixes,” committee member Tina Anderson said.
Some wanted to break down the entire plan into sections and give the committee’s recommendations on the feasibility and value of each piece and let the council give direction on what to pursue.
And at least one member wanted to hire someone with the expertise to sort through the pieces of the plan and put a price tag on them before going to the city council.
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