Second community forum marked success; ideas begin to turn into goals

Mar. 31—Several ideas and suggestions bounced off the walls at City Hall as community members gathered for the Community Development Planning Forum Monday night.

Nate Schacht, Community Development director, said for the second community forum the group went over the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) Analysis from the February meeting. He said he did this in a segment about how "your voice matters."

Schacht said they had 65 residents attend the first community forum. During the second forum, Schacht said the City of Duncan is in the planning stages to implement some of these ideas brought forth from the first meeting.

He said there was a concern for child safety and playing near a busy street at Third Street and Bois D' Arc and he shared the concern with Public Works and the police department.

Schacht said the next day the police department reached out and they walked the street to see what can be done and "determined that they're going to put up some additional stop signs and patrol it a little bit and help educate the need to be driving slower and aware of the children playing."

Last month, several residents voiced how they love pickle ball.

Schacht said he is looking at a grant opportunity to convert two older tennis courts to pickle ball courts.

"We heard our citizens and are trying to implement some things there," he said.

Another concern addressed was the ability to host these meetings in different locations.

Schacht said with the help of Mike Conn with Duncan Area Heart and Soul, they will not only have the monthly meeting at city hall, but they will reach out to the different wards for additional meetings as well.

He said there was a concern about the dark streets and they reached out to the director of Duncan Power.

"He's informed me he has on order the supplies and the equipment to make those repairs," he said. "Shipment on that is delayed, but it's something that we're ordering so we can start making those improvements and bringing more higher quality of life with the lighting aspect."

Schacht said he pulled some information in regards to utility rates and averages. He said there would need to be more of an indepth review and their public relations team is working on gathering the information.

The second community forum continued to address the "big ticket" desires residents have for the city.

"The big ticket items are those items we really need to strive for," he said.

For residents who have those "wow" factor ideas about what Duncan needs, Schacht said he encourages residents to reach out with what they want to see in the city.

"It may be the first round goal, it may be the third round goal, but eventually it could be a goal to see the improvement of our community," he said.

Community members talked about funding and how to complete projects during this time.

"Funding is an important component to quality of life and how you move forward," he said.

Schacht addressed grants they are working on, as well as their partnerships with different organizations such as the Association of South Central Oklahoma Governments (ASCOG).

Currently, Schacht said they have a 50-50 grant they are using to repave roads. He said these projects will begin in the next few weeks in the southeast end of town.

In hosting these hearings and gathering input from residents, Schacht said it makes it a goal of the community and not just one voice when approaching an agency.

"This is truly a community-driven project," he said.

Additionally, community members engaged in topics concerning housing, neighborhoods and transportation needs in Duncan.

Schacht said the second meeting went well.

"A lot of great dialogue," he said.

The group made it through about half the topics planned, but Schacht said there was a lot of community engagement.

"That's the relationship building component of a successful planning process," he said.

Sandra Jackson, who lives in Ward 4, said this is her second forum she's attended and it's been great.

"It gives me an opportunity to hear perspectives from other people to see what their ideas are about the city and most importantly to see and hear some of the city's intentions about where they're taking us," Jackson said.

She said she's excited about what the future holds for its residents.

Next month, Schacht said they will continue to discuss topics concerning public facilities and safety, recreation and environment, health and nutrition, education, arts and culture, economic development, among other subjects.

The next meeting will take place April 22 at City Hall, located at 1600 S. Highway 81 in Duncan.