Katherine Ennis, AICP Principal at Epiphany Collaboration LLC, leads the discussion on environmental issues at the Pell City Comprehensive Plan 2016-2041 Process Meeting on Thursday at the Pell City Municipal Complex. Photo by Ellen Sowa.

Public officials, city employees and citizens gathered last week for the first Pell City Comprehensive Plan 2016-2041 Process Meeting of the new year.

“Everything that we talk about directly affects the quality of life in this city,” said Katherine Ennis, meeting leader and AICP Principal at Epiphany Collaboration LLC, the consulting firm hired by the City Council last year to help revise the 15-year-old plan. “But it’s been a long time since (the plan) has been updated, and it’s time for that process. It should really be revised every 5 years.”

This meeting, held at the Pell City Municipal Complex, was the first of nine, each focusing on one of the plan’s individual elements: environment, recreation, transportation, utilities, housing, economic development, historic downtown, education and public safety. While the official topic of discussion was the environmental element of the plan, the meeting also served as a reminder of the importance of the overall revisionary process.

“Every topic or element is going to affect other citizens and future people who are going to live here,” said Ennis after an introduction from City Manager Brian Muenger. “If you want to attract new businesses and new industries to your community as well, you’ve got to be able to address these issues.”

The Pell City Comprehensive Plan is meant to document a shared vision for the future of the community, as well as strategies to accomplish this vision. The decision-making guide acts as a point of reference for evaluating all city programs and projects that affect growth and development, whether by public or private investors. Overall, it’s a crucial part in the future growth of the city.

Besides maintaining and achieving a strong sense of community, one of the goals of the plan is to preserve Pell City’s natural resources. After introductions, the meeting set up a loose template for future gatherings: an open discussion of the specific element’s assets and issues, followed by brainstorming on how to take advantage of these assets, and goals for addressing the issues.

Environmental assets mentioned included Logan Martin Lake, as well as I-20, land availability, the Pell City Waste Water Treatment Plant and the converging railways Pell City was built around. However, the discussion reached its height once issues surrounding the city’s environment were brought to the floor. While potential brownfields, abandoned structures and several other topics were added to the list, the issues that ended up being at the forefront of the meeting began with the topic of litter.

“In a year’s time I buy 800 (trash) bags for this city,” said Greg Gossett, superintendent of the Pell City Street and Maintenance Department, “and we use every one of them.”

This continued onto the other focuses of the meeting: lake water quality and quantity, particularly after the drought; as well as drainage and erosion issues throughout the city.

“The issue is when regular rain is causing flooding, of course it just takes the money to fix it,” said City Councilman Jay Jenkins. “If the city doesn’t come up with and implement standards now, we will run into issues in the future.”

The meeting wrapped up with the discussion of goals for the future, including environmentally-friendly and fiscal alternatives to fixing the aforementioned subjects, as well as incentives to educate residents about environmental issues facing Pell City.

“It’s important for your citizens to see the city involved, to know it’s important for you too,” said Ennis. “I’m excited that (the city is) interested in going through this process. I’m hoping for is to get something that’s a lot more user-friendly. If you’re going to write it, you need to use it. They tend to get stuck on a shelf and not used.”

The next Pell City Comprehensive Plan 2016-2041 Process Meeting will be Feb. 2 at 5:30 p.m. at the Pell City Municipal Complex to discuss recreation. The meetings will take place every two weeks on Thursdays, to be followed at their conclusion by a land-use discussion, which will later be scheduled.

For more information, go to pell-city.com/comprehensive-plan-2041.