(Traverse City, Michigan) - Boosted by donations from several local organizations, The Grand Vision project officials said today that they have raised enough funds to expand the highly popular, citizen-based land use and transportation planning process from Grand Traverse County into Antrim, Benzie, Kalkaska, Leelanau, and Wexford Counties.
The new Grand Vision workshops will occur at Kalkaska County's Kaliseum on May 7 and at Leelanau County's Government and Community Center on May 8; both from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Workshops are being planned for Antrim and Wexford counties to take place on May 27; and in Benzie County on May 28.
All workshops will be free and include light snacks for participants.
The donations, combined with supplemental funding from the state transportation department and the five newly added counties, added up to almost $240,000, officials said.
Findings from the five new workshops will be combined with results from earlier sessions and in-depth research and surveys to create unique, computerized "scenario planning" graphics. Thousands of citizens of the six-county region will be able to view those scenarios online and in print, and then choose their favorites at "Grand Vision Decision" events this fall.
Grand Vision sponsors began raising money to include the five additional counties in The Grand Vision project late last year. After securing $100,000 from the Michigan Department of Transportation, the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments solicited additional funds from Grand Traverse County's five neighboring county governments. Each agreed to pay $6,000 in two annual installments.
The Grand Vision has also received a $50,000 grant from the Grand Traverse Band of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians, a $25,000 grant from the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce, a $10,000 grant from Northwestern Michigan College, a $5,000 grant from Munson Hospital, and gifts from several private individuals.
"We are just thrilled that the band, the chamber, the college, the hospital, and several of our ‘Grand Vision Champions' saw how important it is to make this a truly regional project," said Matt McCauley, regional planner for NMCOG, which is handling the contracts for the five counties. "We are also very proud of the fact that we were able to convince the state and the five counties that it was well worth their while to get financially involved even in these times of terribly lean budgets."
NMCOG officials made the case that a planning project for just one county in a region where many people commute more than 100 miles a day across several counties, could not deal effectively enough with burgeoning traffic and growth problems. Over the past month, all five counties agreed to help fund the project-marking something of a breakthrough in regional cooperation.
Online and phone registration, which is encouraged for any of those wishing to attend any of the county workshops, will begin soon. The project's website, www.thegrandvision.org, also offers an online survey, a community forum, pictures of maps that participants marked up in the first five workshops, and a timeline for the project, which will wrap in October of 2009. Workshop registration will also be available, toll-free, at 866-441-5214.
