VISION: TOWN HALL MEETING TO VIEW GOALS

Vision 2000 officials hope an interactive televised town hall meeting tonight will increase public participation in citywide comprehensive planning efforts.

The 7 p.m. meeting at City Hall is open to the public. It will be televised on Cape Girardeau's local cable station, Channel 13.

Members of the Vision 2000 Community Relations Council, which organized the event, said viewers will be able to call during the program with their questions and comments.

Vision 2000 is a citywide effort to plan for the growth and development of the city. A strategic plan was drafted in 1988 that established several goals to attain by the year 2000.

Linda Cochran, a member of the Vision 2000 Community Relations Council, said tonight's meeting will focus on six Vision 2000 goals.

"Our real purpose for doing it is to let the community know where we are in accomplishing some of these things and to receive input," Cochran said. "Any input people have, we're anxious to hear from them.

"Also, for anyone interested in getting involved, this is a way to let them know what we're doing," she said.

Following are goals to be discussed, said Melvin Gateley, also a member of the council:

Rodney Miller, county clerk, and Lois Boston, deputy county clerk, will make a presentation on Vision 2000's goal of 90 percent registration of eligible Cape Girardeau voters and 75 percent voter participation by 2000.

20Carol Carter, Community Relations Council, and Terry Risko, director of the Cape Girardeau Public Library, will show a videotape explaining an effort to establish computer "Community Information Centers" around the city.

20Neyland Clark, Cape Girardeau superintendent of schools, and Susan Bartlett, director of the district's "Parents as Teachers" program, will show a videotape on the program and discuss the importance of parents taking part in the children's education.

20A plan to provide new businesses "start-up" packets. The packets include a portfolio that will be made available to any new-business owners and will include information on the city, licensing and zoning requirements, and other pertinent items.

Pauline Fox, chairman of the Vision 2000 Jobs and Business Committee; Judy Moss, director of economic development for the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce; and Buz Sutherland, director of the Small Business Development Center at Southeast Missouri State University; will make the presentation.

20Kent Bratton, city planner; Michael Aide of Southeast Missouri State University; and Charles Haubold of the Vision 2000 Storm and Flood Water Management Committee, will present a videotape and brochure on the city's storm-water management plan.

20Chuck McGinty, president of the Downtown Merchants Association; John Boardman, also of the association; Kent Zickfield of the Downtown Redevelopment Corp.; and Martha Bender of the city's Historic Preservation Commission, will present a "video tour" of downtown redevelopment and preservation.

Gateley said the meeting is an effective way to spread Vision 2000's message to city residents.

"What we were trying to do is just reach the people," he said. "We've had good discussion at (past) town hall meetings. But by televising it, we're just trying to reach more people so that we have a wider audience to share the information as well as receive their input on these topics."

Cochran said it's important to get a wide segment of the population behind the project.

"Our whole foundation behind the Vision 2000 plan is that it's everyone's plan," she said. "It's for everyone in the community; there's no limit on who can get involved."

Cochran and Gateley said that, for the most part, the city has stayed its course in meeting the annual Vision 2000 goals.

"We're really doing very well," said Cochran. "That's probably one of the things that's most important.

"So many times in communities they'll put together a plan like this, and it's put on a shelf and forgotten," she said. "That was one of the things when we started this process people said that it would just be discarded or forgotten.

"But I think we're very well on track. We're pretty well up to speed on keeping up with what the citizens wanted in the plan."

Cochran said the town hall meetings complement other methods of enlisting public comment on the Vision 2000 plan, such as presentations to civic groups, printing and distribution of informational brochures, and formation of community task forces and committees.

"I think town hall meetings have the potential for being effective," she said.

"We realize it's not the only way we need to be communicating, but the more information we get out to community the better able we are to implement our goals."

Viewers of the cable broadcast of the meeting will be able to call 334-1155 with questions or comments.

"We encourage people to come and be in the live audience for questions and discussion," said Gateley. "But we'll also be able to interact with people from their homes, which is something new."