Wednesday, January 20, 2010

 

A Capital Needs Assessment & The Comprehensive Plan

In these difficult economic times it is particularly difficult to entice people to talk about capital needs. However, capital projects are critical to the development of a thriving community.

The Comprehensive Plan is anything but. It is inventory of what currently exists in Lancaster County. It spells out nothing whatsoever as far as future capital projects. So is it a plan? Not from my perspective.

The County Council is proposing to take a look at capital needs in Lancaster County, and according to the current council members, they are proposing to look twenty to twenty-five years into the future.

However, I do have a problem with County Council being the one doing the looking. This needs to be a community effort. If the public does not lead the way, it will fail.

I propose that representatives of the major elected governmental entities in Lancaster County (County Council, School Board, Lancaster City Council, Heath Springs Town Council, and Kershaw Town Council) as well as representatives of the Indian Land community (where we can reasonably expect to see a new municipality incorporated in the not too distant future) get together to name a committee of private citizens to look at capital needs countywide.

This committee should be charged with holding public meetings throughout Lancaster County for the purpose of soliciting public input. County and municipal department heads should be invited to communicate their needs as well.

The committee will need to work closely with the Planning Department , the Lancaster County Planning Commission, and the City of Lancaster Planning Commission.

What is crucial is that the Capital Needs Assessment and the revisions to the Comprehensive Plan must originate with the people.

I am not going to deceive anyone here.  If the County Council decides to go with a process something along the lines of what I have spelled out, I would very much like to head up that effort.

When we start to talk about capital needs, it will be all too easy to limit ourselves to immediate needs, and to avoid looking down the road. However, looking down the road is crucial. We must not limit our vision to five or ten years down the road. We must look forward fifteen, twenty, and twenty-five years into the future.

Some vocal residents of Lancaster County have expressed disdain at the construction of a new courthouse, particularly considering the current economic conditions. I would counter by pointing out that if the past leadership of Lancaster County, dating back twenty-five, even fifty years ago, had possessed a little bit of vision, perhaps we could have done something during a more hospitable economic climate, rather than being forced to act in the midst of a severe economic recession.

Everyone needs to understand that a capital needs assessment is not a commitment to expend monies. It is a realization of what we would like to have.

Each of us is going to have differing ideas about what capital needs are important, about the order in which capital needs should be addressed, about how much should be expended for each capital need, and about how each capital need should be funded.

For example, I believe that where possible, some of our capital needs should be addressed through private investment. As a case on point, I believe that development that creates new burdens on existing infrastructure should be required to fund, at least in part, such new infrastructure construction and upgrades to existing infrastructure as may be necessary to support that development.

One general construction provision I would advocate would be that Lancaster County, its municipalities, and the School Board bar any new public construction making use of a flat roof. My great grandfather, a prominent local architect, strenuously opposed the use of flat roofs prior to the construction of Dobson Elementary School, Erwin Farm Elementary School, and McDonald Green Elementary School. However, the proponents proceeded with flat roofs, with the unfortunate consequence that they leaked, constantly. When I attended McDonald Green Elementary School, every time that it rained, we placed all of the trash cans in the hallway under the various leak points.

What are some of the capital needs that I envision for Lancaster County? What follows are my ideas. You may have wholly different ideas. You may have additions to and/or deletions from my list. That is fine. I don’t pretend that my ideas are the beginning, middle, or end of this discussion. They have no more or less validity than any ideas expressed by any other contributor.

I know that there will be those who will say that we can’t afford all of this. At the present time they are correct. However, the wise person plans for what he wants, and then acquires what he can as conditions permit.

The plan that we put together cannot be static. Needs rise and fall. Perceptions change. Wants and desires change. We should plan to update our plan on an annual basis, with major revisions targeted for every five years.

Each of us needs to contribute our ideas to this discussion. What is it that we feel is important? What is it that we need to do immediately? What is it that we feel can wait?

Be assured that we will not all agree. However, we each need to be willing to listen, with an open mind, and to work together for a bright future for Lancaster County.


# posted by John P. Baker @ 3:37 PM
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