Odessa, Burdett want public input

ODESSA, BURDETT—The villages of Burdett and Odessa have joined together to identify new opportunities for development in both municipalities’ downtown areas.
The villages are looking to identify the strengths and opportunities that could help fill storefronts, increase shopping, and encourage investors and entrepreneurs to open shops and restaurants.
To help develop the plans for future, Odessa and Burdett are reaching out to local residents and other interested people through a pair of Village Visioning Sessions on Saturday April 16.
The sessions will be held as follows:
• The Village of Burdett Fire Hall, 3830 Willow St., at 10 a.m.
• The Village of Odessa Municipal Building, 300 E. Main St., 2 p.m.
The interactive workshop sessions are designed to draw participants out about their visions for the future of the villages and to collaborate with others to prioritize the ideas generated. Each session will be followed by downtown “walkabouts” with the project team leaders to discuss ideas from the workshop.
The visioning sessions are free and open to the public.  Participants do not need to be residents of either village to attend.  The public is encouraged to participate.
The project’s consultant, Peter J. Smith & Co. out of Buffalo, will use the results from the public workshops along with market analysis and urban design techniques to develop a physical plan for each village and action strategies to implement the plans. These will be presented to the public in June.
The project partners, led by Schuyler County Partnership for Economic Development (SCOPED), include each village’s board and planning board, the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schuyler County Planning/Community Development.