LAKE CITY — The Community Visioning Session held at the Lake City Elementary Cafetorium on Thursday drew a larger-than-anticipated turnout.

Nearly 100 people, including city residents along with residents of Lake, Forest, Reeder and Caldwell townships, among others, attended the meeting that was conducted by the Beckett and Raeder consulting firm on behalf of the Lake City Development Committee.

The purpose of the session was to receive feedback from those in attendance and incorporate all the data into LCDC’s two-fold mission of updating the city’s master plan and getting the city certified by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

Michelle Bennett, a senior planner for Beckett and Raeder who was present Thursday with three other team members and conducted the meeting, said she was quite impressed with the turnout, noting that it was one of the best she had ever seen at a community visioning session anywhere in the state.

“It’s really amazing,‘ Bennett said during the meeting while a survey was being taken.

“This turnout is indicative of the high level of interest in the future of Lake City and it’s nice to see other townships represented here as well. Seeing that kind of willingness to collaborate and work together toward a common goal is a very positive sign.‘

Craig Ardis, the LCDC chairman who helped to spearhead the city’s redevelopment effort two years ago, was also very pleased with the turnout.

“We weren’t sure what to expect but this is awesome,‘ he said.

“I’m feeling really good right now about the interest the people have in this community moving forward and taking the steps necessary for the city to become sustainable. The people are invested in the community and that’s what it’s gonna take.‘

The two-hour meeting was a lively one with a lot of interaction among the attendees. Everyone was divided into groups of six to take a survey that included questions such as how would you describe Lake City, what has the Lake City area done well, what are areas the city needs to improve on, and naming barriers to success.

The final question of the survey was the most provocative and took up the most time: What do you want the Lake City area to look like in 10 years?

Bennett received public responses from each of the groups after the survey was completed and her team listed the results for everyone to see. The main priorities for future sustainability that came out of the survey were a vital downtown district, a thriving business climate that includes industry development, a grocery store, and a clean, healthy lake.

Those weren’t all, though. A multi-service medical center was also listed along with the need for a city manager or a downtown district supervisor, access to high-speed internet and public transportation, a viable network between the city, the county and the townships, and keeping an “up-north atmosphere.‘ Figuring out a way to encourage those who ride through town to stop was something else frequently mentioned.

Several of those who responded also mentioned that they would like to see the city maintain a healthy business climate without sacrificing the “rural‘ feel to the city at the same time. When Bennett asked if that meant not becoming Traverse City, nearly everyone in the room raised their hands.

After the meeting, Lake City Mayor Brad Seger said he was very pleased “to see so many people willing to take time out of their day to come to the meeting and make their voices heard.‘

Bennett said the data collected would be crunched and analyzed in the coming days by members of the Beckett and Raeder team and then incorporated into the proposed city master plan. The results will be available online at lakecityareamasterplan.org.

Cadillac News