The Community Outreach for Community Consensus process seeks to find new ways to achieve the County’s vision for the future.  The process consists of three main stages – the visioning stage, the concepts and directions stage, and the implementation tools stage.  During initial stage of the process, discussions focused on identifying the overall direction the county should go in the future.  This can be considered a visioning stage.  The concepts and directions stage focused on evaluating feasible options for achieving the vision and directions (goals).  This stage is where a draft plan will be developed as a result of feedback on the broad concepts and directions. The last stage of the community outreach process involves developing the specific, individual implementing tools, called Stepping Stones, that will help move us toward where we want to be in the future.  Moving forward quickly with some of the more significant Stepping Stones (objectives and specific action items) will get us closer to achieving the goals of the plan without preempting some of its intentions.

The topics of discussion at the Community Outreach meetings followed six Pathways.

• Directing & Designing Growth
• Taking Care of Business
• Connecting with our Heritage
• Networking Transportation
• Housing the Workforce
• Sustaining our Natural Systems

All are interconnected.  Pathway discussions will overlap, considering answers to questions such as where we want the existing potential development to go and what it should look like, how we can create jobs that allow people who live in the county to also work here, and how we can provide housing for all of the county’s residents.