More than 60 residents, business owners and visitors took part in the second workshop for the Chehalis Renaissance project Monday night at Chehalis Middle School.
The event was arranged and hosted by the city of Chehalis and the Beckwith Consulting Group, which are working together on the project — a broad study that the city hopes will provide a master plan to guide Chehalis for the next 25 years or more.
How to Plug in to the Renaissance
In addition to the public workshops and meetings, the consulting firm working with Chehalis on its Renaissance project is also looking for input via online surveys at www.cityofchehalis.com. Phone surveys are scheduled to take place in the weeks and months ahead.
The next public forum for the Renaissance will be held May 8 at 7 p.m. at the V.R. Lee Community Building in Chehalis. The meeting will be used to review the results of the workshop ideas and a proposed plan of action. For additional information telephone Joanne Schwartz at 345-3240 or e-mail her at jschwartz@ci.chehalis.wa.us.
Tom Beckwith, owner of Beckwith Consulting, said the information will be collated and used to develop alternatives and proposals which will be available to residents at a future open house meeting.
We need to hear from the people who live here and what they want to try to do, Beckwith said. We cant come in and say this is what we want to do. We need to find out what they want. … Also, they know the city much more intimately and know things that have been tried in the past and things that worked well in the past.
Organizers split the city into 10 loosely defined districts, and provided attendees with a map highlighting the downtown district, the Miracle Mile, Main Street, the Port of Chehalis, the steam train and Veterans Memorial Museum, the Twin City Town Center and several other prominent areas of the city (see graphic).
The results of the brainstorming were wide-ranging, with some in attendance proposing far-reaching changes while others suggested simple improvements such as better signage, landscaping and entry ways for the city. Attendees offered proposals such as shutting down the downtown to traffic, clearing the way for residential space in the downtown, creating a gateway to the city and finding a brand for the city to rally behind.
For about two hours, consultants and city workers wrote the ideas and observations onto large white paper pads as attendees chattered about the future of the city and the hopes they have for it.
For me its the most exciting project weve had since Ive been on the council, said Chehalis Mayor Tony Ketchum. Its citizens telling us what they would like their city to become. Its not (council members) sitting around saying what they want for the city.
City Manager Merlin MacReynold said that when the project is finished late this year, the city will be left with an invaluable tool with which to move forward.
From a manager and administrator perspective, this is critically important, MaReynold said. Then we can go budget, we can identify how we can phase the projects in, and what should be the highest priorities for us to focus on in the long-term and the short-term.
Still in its early stages, the project wont come to complete fruition until late this year. The process began in 2006, MacReynold said, when the city council was discussing how to manage the growth and opportunities of the entire city. The city has paid the Beckwith Consulting Group $125,000 for the study, which city officials have said will be more than worth it.
Chehalis Economic Development Administrator Joanne Schwartz has managed much of the citys side of the study thus far, and said she was very pleased with the attendance and input of Chehalis residents, and non-residents, Tuesday.
I thought it was very well received, Schwartz said. I think people are stunned at the amount of work that has been done.
Eric Schwartz covers municipal government and health for The Chronicle. He may be reached at 807-8245.
