14 submit letters to be on Medina visioning committee

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 4 April 2022 at 7:52 am

MEDINA – Village officials wanted to hear from the community who is interested on serving on a committee that would brainstorm ways – big and small – to make Medina better.

Fourteen people sent in letters of interest. Those people have been invited to an initial 9:30 a.m. meeting on Saturday, April 9, to go over the committee’s role and see if they want to make a commitment to serve in the volunteer role.

Once the village has a commitment from the potential members it will appoint them. Mayor Mike Sidari wants to hold off on going public with the committee members until they agree to serve.

The mayor said he expects the group – the Medina Strategic Planning and Visionary Committee – will meet frequently in the next two years or so to identify projects to move Medina forward.

They will lead public meetings to get residents’ feedback on current and future needs in Medina, and brainstorm ways to make the village more attractive to residential and business development.

Initially the Village Board was presented with a list of nine people to serve on the committee. They have experience on other boards or running businesses. Kathy Blackburn, chairwoman of the Medina Local Waterfront Revitalization Program, said that group could help Medina establish goals and projects to keep the momentum going for the community.

But the Village Board opted to give residents a chance to submit a letter of interest to be on the committee. The group members will likely range their own ideas to help Medina. They also will be asked to lead public meetings to solicit feedback from the community.

Mayor Sidari said he read an article from the NYS Conference of Mayors that highlighted how a visioning committee can make a big difference in advancing a village, especially for economic development. Many prospective companies are looking at more than suitable land and infrastructure when deciding where to locate their business.

Those companies want to be in a community with vibrant schools, parks and neighborhoods, Sidari said.

The new committee will look at ways to improve and attract more investment in the downtown, neighborhoods, housing, the historic district and other zoning overlays.