Fremont STEP meeting Tuesdsay night
By Staff Reports
Published in News on July 22, 2012 1:50 AM
FREMONT -- Citizens will have a chance to give their input on how they want Fremont to change Tuesday night at a special Small Town Economic Prosperity meeting.
The meeting will be run by Oliver Bass, the chief planner at the state Department of Commerce. Bass will hear opinions from the audience and use them to brainstorm the town's economic development.
"It's going to be the ideas of people in Fremont," said Kerry McDuffie, Fremont's town administrator.
McDuffie said Thursday will be the first of 12-15 meetings in which Bass will come hear opinions and start coaching the town through the planning process.
"We're just in the stage of defining the issues, identifying what's good, what's bad," Bass said.
Everyone at the first meeting is invited to keep participating for the rest of the process, Bass said.
STEP is a program the state runs through the North Carolina Rural Center, which helps small towns reinvigorate their economies by supporting development, providing technical assistance and grant making, and providing information about long-term investment in the town.
McDuffie said the program will give Fremont $25,000 for economic development planning, and then $100,000 to start implementing the plan.
The meeting will be 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Town Hall.