I was invited to attend the annual meeting of the Upshur County Development Authority and was present for the lunch and guest speaker, West Virginia Senator Brooks McCabe. I sure many speakers have canned presentations where only the date, name of the venue and honored guests are changed. Senator McCabe's remarks however, were purposely focused on Buckhannon and Upshur County.
Senator McCabe believes we are in the early stages of significant growth and we need to have a plan. His vision for our region is not a mega commercial expansion but growth in all sectors with an emphasis on keeping our area rural by design. What is it that draws people to areas like Ashville, NC and Charlottesville, VA? The rural component. The challenge for our area is to grow business and amenities in logical ways especially along Corridor H. If unplanned development occurs, traffic flow and infrastructure can suffer. The character of our area needs to be preserved in conjunction with planned growth. Farmlands cannot totally vanish.
How we entice new knowledge workers and businesses to our area is key to successful rural by design planning. Senator McCabe believes we need to become more urban, offering desired amenities while at the same time maintaining our rural character. Senator McCabe also believes we are uniquely qualified to move forward in a long range rural by design plan because there are only two governing entities; the city and the county.
Speculating on what a unified city/county government might look like, Senator McCabe suggested areas of relatively easy commingling that include administration and law enforcement functions. He inferred that a serious attempt to become more streamlined would be looked upon favorable at the state level and some funding opportunities might be available. In any combination of systems there would be start up costs for learning new systems and training. Senator McCabe believe this can be accomplished without mentioning the 'Z' word zoning and taxation should only reflect the services received. A very interesting idea and one that I can see in the distant future. Ultimately is all comes down to people getting along with each other.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
why don't you take these ideas and move back to upstate new york with them, i'm sure they'd appreciate these ideas
ReplyDeleteJust remember it's your hometown natives that got this place in the mess it's in. Just further proof of the 2015 survey results that state Buckhannon does not welcome new comers. Let's just put a fence up around town. You folks stay in and the rest of us will stay out. Thank heavens your feelings are of the minority. Also, if your punctuation and grammar are any indication of your Upshur County education, Scott should be on the school board as well.
ReplyDeletePardon me Anonymous #2, I have to correct you on a couple of things.
ReplyDeleteFirst I did not grow up in Upshur County, or even West Virginia, also I was told along time ago that you don't have to be a whiz at english on the internet because it is so informal, also I didn't make rude or disparing remarks about certain peoples spelling abilities.
We love having new people move into Upshur County. What we do not love is people who move here and then try to change the place beyond all recognition, attack people who grew up in this community , and continue to hold secret meetings to keep plotting stuff that you know the majority of Upshur Countians would not agree with.
We encourage people from all walks of life to move into our community, not just professional people.
As to the education students receive in Upshur County, I can tell you that it's better than alot of other places, and the majority of people that work in our school system are great. With the way you feel about our educational system, I'm surprised you moved here. And I'm still not an english professor,So sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!!