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Canton seeking opinions and ideas for revised village and town community action plan

Posted 10/8/15

CANTON -- The Town and Village of Canton officials are seeking input as they update the Canton Community Action Plan (CCAP), with four public meetings this month. First adopted in 1998, this set of …

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Canton seeking opinions and ideas for revised village and town community action plan

Posted

CANTON -- The Town and Village of Canton officials are seeking input as they update the Canton Community Action Plan (CCAP), with four public meetings this month.

First adopted in 1998, this set of priorities guiding the economic and community development activity of the municipalities was last updated in 2011. The original vision of the CCAP has served the community in the more than 15 years since it was developed.

That 1998 vision was of a Canton that preserves the distinctive quality of life inherent in a small college town while at the same time achieves greater vibrancy in its commerce.

A small sample of the progress made since then, in part guided, funded, or supported in some way by the CCAP, includes cleaning up brownfields on Riverside Drive and Willow Island and the development of the Grasse River Heritage Park, the repurposing and refurbishing of Gray Lanes, the expansion of parking behind the Main Street stores, county sales tax distribution change to include population as well as tax base, development of a whitewater park plan, the creation of economic development positions for the town and village with a Steering Committee of members representing many aspects of the community, and the reduction in municipal costs through the use of shared services between the town and village, according to Kathryn Mullaney, aformer steerring committee member.

The fourth iteration of the CCAP, drafted by the Economic Development Steering Committee, is now ready for review by the community and continues the original legacy with a focus on five primary goals: maintaining Canton as an attractive, convenient, healthy place to live, work and play; supporting local businesses; enhancing local government responsiveness and efficiency; inculcating sustainable development in all actions, policies and projects undertaken in the implementation of the plan; and optimizing the opportunities based on tourism.

The Economic Development Steering Committee invites all of those interested to attend one of four meetings to hear about the plan and provide feedback to the group to ensure that the plan reflects the priorities of the community.

The meetings will be held Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 10:30 a.m. in the multi-purpose room at Partridge Knoll, 30 Sullivan Dr., and at 6:30 p.m. at the Best Western University Inn, 90 E. Main St., in the Rushton Room, and again on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at the same times and places.

Contact Mullaney at 244-9803 or klmullaney@gmail.com with questions or input on the plan.