Rome Sentinel

Georgetown residents discuss town’s future

The town of Georgetown is developing its comprehensive plan and asked its more than 900 residents to help shape the community’s future.

A public meeting was held on Wednesday, March 15, and residents not only voiced their concerns for the future but what they’d like to see done.

A comprehensive plan creates a common vision for the future of a community and helps prioritize goals, guiding future growth and development, officials said.

“We were looking for input and asked residents what visions they had for the community. And it was a rather well-attended meeting, considering everyone was still digging themselves out from the storm,” Supervisor Pete Walrod said. “People spoke up, and we got some good ideas and feedback. We’re definitely going to incorporate some of these ideas into our plan.”

A draft of the comprehensive plan is being put together now with help from the Madison County Planning Department, and there’s hope to have the plan in place by May.

Among the concerns brought forward by residents at the Wednesday meeting was a desire to enjoy more of the resources of the area.

“We have a lot of state land,” Walrod said. “And residents want us to communicate with the Department of Environmental Conservation to see if we could improve and enhance some of the hiking trails.”

One issue brought up as well was the Georgetown Elementary School that was closed down around 2013 after a consolidation effort. It currently sits empty, and during the move, the school playground was dismantled. The closing definitely delivered a blow to the community and people want to see something done to utilize it.

“Residents want to see a park of some kind and area for the younger generation,” Walrod said. “That’s something the town’s actively pursuing now, but it was good to hear that there was support to hear from the community.”

“More than anything, it was good to hear that people want to preserve the scenic beauty, open space, and farmlands [of Georgetown],” the supervisor added. “The open space here in Georgetown is one of the reasons why people live here.”

Walrod said he was happy to see so many people involved.

“We’re now in the talks about forming a committee to tackle some projects here in the town,” he said.

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2023-03-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

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