Committee extends survey deadline

ODESSA—The Catharine/Odessa Joint Comprehensive Plan Subcommittee is extending the community survey comment period by two weeks until Friday, April 1.
The public survey, which has already received nearly 200 comments from village and town residents since Jan. 18, will be used by the committee to help develop municipal policy as it relates to economic, environmental, zoning and other land use issues.
Over the next two weeks all residents 18 years and older as well as owners of businesses operating within the two municipalities who have not yet done the survey are encouraged to complete an online survey here.
Additionally, the survey results will be used in developing an economic development strategy for Odessa’s commercial district by Peter J. Smith and Co., a consulting firm out of the Buffalo area. Smith was recently contracted by Schuyler County Partnership for Economic Development (SCOPED) through an Appalachian Regional Commission economic development grant to develop a strategy for both the Odessa and Burdett.
“One of the reasons this firm was chosen was their willingness to engage in and enthusiasm for the joint comprehensive planning process already underway in Odessa and Catharine,” said Tim Hicks, chair of the Catharine Planning Board and village of Odessa trustee.
The mission of the Catharine/Odessa Joint Comprehensive Plan Subcommittee is to develop a plan to provide a foundation for sound municipal policy decisions which will maintain and enhance the quality of life over the next 10 years. The plan will address issues of population trends, agriculture, economic development, housing, property maintenance, open space, historical and cultural resource preservation, transportation, water resource management, natural resource preservation and use, recreational land use, tax structure and other land use issues raised by community input. Survey questions will gather information in these areas and will help identify existing resources, future needs, and overall town and village goals.