Cayuga County adopted its countywide strategic plan in 1969 and it hasn’t been updated since. The Cayuga County Planning & Economic Development Department is hoping to change that.
Kari Terwilliger is the department’s director. She told Finger Lakes News Radio that her department has applied for $103,500 in grant funding to allow the department to update the county’s strategic plan.
“[We want to] bring together all of our county agencies, county departments, all 33 municipalities, all of our regional partners and really put pen to paper and say ‘What do we want to do moving forward? What does the next 30 years in Cayuga County actually look like?"”
Similar to comprehensive plans already in place for municipalities within the county, the strategic plan would take a look at how the county can work with local and inter-municipal groups to identify and work on countywide goals on a variety of topics including economic development, housing development, social services, natural resource protection, water quality, and agriculture.
Instead of hiring outside contractors, the planning department will create the plan itself. The funding will allow the department to offset the counts of a planned massive public outreach campaign to make sure the entire county is represented, according to Terwilliger.
Additionally, the department wants to add 33 appendices to the plan focusing on each of the county’s municipalities. allowing each town, village, or city to see what the plan specifically means for them.
“We’re looking at absolutely everything that you could possibly be thinking of and put it all together in one plane.”
The department has also applied for grants to fund a Brownfield Opportunity Area assessment and a housing study which will provide additional information for the plan
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