Contact: Tim Ervin
231-723-4325
Issued as a Service to the Onekama Community by the Alliance for Economic Success

For Immediate Release: November 11, 2008

Onekama, Michigan – If you care about the future of “greater Onekama,” you won’t want to miss an Onekama Community Open House to learn and offer your ideas about a Community Master Plan now being prepared for the Village of Onekama and Onekama Township.

The Open House will be held on Tuesday, November 25, 2008 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Farr Center, located on M-22 in the Village of Onekama.

John Iacoangeli, from the firm Beckett & Raeder that is guiding development of the plan, along with members of a Community Leadership Team will be on hand to talk about the proposed priorities, goals and objectives for the plan. You’ll also learn how community input gathered from two open meetings is reflected in the proposed plan and have a chance to weigh in on priorities that you’d like to see addressed. Leadership team members include: Susan Barnard, Dan Behring, Ken Burda, Bob Evans, Bob Hinsel, Scott Johnston, Beth McCarthy, Evie McNeil, David Meister, Margaret Punches, Bob Wangbichler and Bob Wendt.

Proposed priorities for the community master plan include:

Portage Lake water quality
Vibrant downtown
Competitive schools
Controlled growth
Consolidation of governments
Planning infrastructure
View shed protection
Preservation of character
Sustainable (“green”) economic development 

Some Community Master Plan strategies considered by the leadership team include:

A joint hiking and biking plan
The “safe route to school” program
Creation of a joint planning commission
A joint downtown development authority district
A stormwater management program
Identification of Brownfield Sites to incentivize development
Creation of a downtown zoning district
A master plan for sanitary sewers
A riparian “overlay” and ridge and steep slope ordinances
Neighborhood improvement authority
Establishment of a sanitary sewer area boundary
A septic infiltration study
Creation of a Water Resource Improvement Authority
Identifying opportunities for transfer of development rights

“This will be an opportunity for the Community Leadership Team to share what has been developed and invite added input in an informal, open house setting,” said John Iacoangelli. “The Open House continues the open dialogue that is essential to producing a community plan that will be owned and implemented by the community. There will be additional opportunities for input as well, including public hearings on the draft plan.”

Iacoangelli said that the Manistee County Community Foundation has secured $27,000 through two grants to support initial implementation of the Plan. The Foundation initially provided a grant to support development of the community master plan with funds awarded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation to help implement Envision Manistee County. The Manistee-based Alliance for Economic Success is administering the grants to support the collaborative planning effort.

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