By HOLLY GASKILL
After planning began in January 2020, the Wells County Vision 2035 is reaching its final stages.
Two key approvals were obtained this week on the new comprehensive plan for Wells County, with the approval by the County Commissioners on Monday and the Bluffton Common Council on Tuesday night.
The document reflects long-term plans and goals for the county, focusing on how the Area Plan Commission lays out, in general terms, how the county will continue to grow. The final document has gone through many rounds of public review and discussion, touching on topics ranging from transportation to land use and quality of life.
“Our goal is that every item would be acted upon in some way,” said Mike Lautzenheiser, the APC’s executive director.
Lautzenheiser added that “acted upon” could refer to multiple avenues — accomplishing the item, the item being discussed but delayed, or the item being discussed and reimagined into a different goal.
Commissioner Jeff Stringer said he was proud that a document like this exists and is available for public view.
“What I love about it is — it’s out in front of everyone,” he said. “… It brought up a ton of discussion that continues to go on. I appreciate all the work.”
The discussion in front of the Bluffton council was much shorter. Common Council member Josh Hunt serves on the APC and he had been discussing matters with his colleagues.
The complete document, totaling 122 pages, is available on the APC’s website.
The schedule for the remaining entities that need to approve the final draft of Vision 2035 is as follows:
• Ossian Town Council, 7 p.m. Oct. 10.
• Poneto Town Council, 7 p.m. Oct. 10.
• Uniondale Town Council, 5 p.m. Oct. 11.
• Zanesville Town Council, 6:30 p.m. Oct. 18.
• Vera Cruz Town Council, 6:30 p.m. Oct. 18.
holly@news-banner.com
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Additional reporting
by Dave Schultz
