Muncie Heart of the City had its monthly meeting Wednesday to discuss, among other events, the development of a Muncie Action Plan.
Muncie Action Plan's purpose is to gather input from Muncie residents to create a set of goals to better the city.
There will be five public meetings on Dec. 1, 2 and 3 in different parts of the city. Facilitators will serve as guides in the meetings, and any resident or Ball State University student can attend.
Marta Moody, executive director of the Delaware Metropolitan Plan Commission, said Muncie Action Plan is looking for thoughts about what would make Muncie a better place to be. Moody said the idea of creating an action plan developed from different needs in the city.
"It was one of those serendipity things," she said. "The idea was created that we needed vision and an action plan to carry on that vision. So it just moved on from there."
Moody said the Office of Community Development, which holds Housing and Urban Development grant funds, is required to have a five-year action plan to guide the use of the funds. At the same time, Ivy Tech's move to downtown Muncie and the mayor's interest in economic development for the city called for a plan to improve the city.
The outcome
Moody said the City County Plan Commission Office will gather input from the meetings and create a comprehensive plan that covers certain areas of the city.
However, there are no expectations as to what goals will be created from resident feedback.
"We don't want this to be a top-bottom thing," Moody said. "We want it to be something that reflects everyone's aspirations and their thoughts."
One hope of the City County Plan Commission is to see input about strengthening neighborhoods and recreational opportunities.
Student Participation
Muncie Action Plan intends to reach various groups of the community, including Ball State students. Moody said students can help by serving as facilitators and by going to the meetings and providing opinions.
Graduate student Katy Jarboe, who will be a facilitator at one of the December meetings, said she wants to gain experience in plan processing.
"If you are a city representative it's hard to reach every single person to see what their opinions are," Jarboe said. "There are so many groups out there that you don't know what they are thinking or what they want."
Jarboe said she thinks any person should enjoy the place they live in and take advantage of the resources available to them.
"I feel like [students] have a voice as well because, yes, they are learning to become professionals and have their fields that they can bring to the table, but they should also take ownership of where they are living," she said. "They need to understand that they can make a difference too."
Timeline
Input will be gathered in meetings on Dec. 1, 2 and 3 and then analyzed.
In January, there will be a study on the age groups that participated in the meetings. Small input group sessions will be conducted to focus on age groups that did not participate.
After the data has been revised there will be public presentations on the input results. A document will then be created and taken to the City Council.
The plan is expected to be adopted in May or June.
Dec. 1
• 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Ball Memorial Hospital
Dec. 2
• 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Muncie Southside High School's cafeteria
• 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Muncie Area Career Center President's Room
Dec. 3
• 1 to 3 p.m. at Forest Park Senior Center
• 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Northside Middle School's cafeteria.
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