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Good afternoon!
The highways were snow covered and slippery on the morning of February 21, the day of our last Vision West ND Consortium meeting in Watford City. I went to the office early intending to start out but decided to wait an hour to be sure the sanding trucks had been out. As a result, when the ten o'clock meeting start time passed, I was just turning onto Highway 85 south of Grassy Butte. At seven minutes past ten, my cell phone rang - a cheerful call from a Consortium member checking to see if I was on my way. If I weren't so old and addle-brained, I'd have smelled a rat. There was a reason for concern over my whereabouts. I'm sure most of you have heard the reason. I was nominated and elected the Consortium Chair for the next year, along with Neil Sharpe as Vice-Chair and Deb Walworth as Secretary.
Although I was more-or-less railroaded, I am pleased to serve the Consortium, our administrative team, project partners, and contractors. I'd like to thank out-going Chair Dan Brosz and Vice-Chair Vicky Steiner for their efforts. I know Dan sacrificed time from his business to dedicate himself to Vision West ND, and Vicky juggled her time between her role as NDAOGPC Executive Director and her service as a District 37 Representative.
As I drove home from Watford City that day, I heard several references to Vision West ND on the radio talk show I happened to be tuned in to. A few weeks ago, I attended a meeting with several local and state leaders where Vision West's webinars were cited and commended. One of the attendees even expressed an intention to copy the idea and format! The acceptance of Vision West's role in defining and planning has, obviously, been very beneficial to participants, state officials, and the state legislature.
Steering Committee and Consortium members, Plan Directors, Contractors, Partners, and the Administration Team deserve to be commended for a job well done.
The bulk of the individual plans and infrastructure studies are now completed and it is time to shift focus to our next phase, the Regional Plan. Last week, Neil, Deb, and I had a crash-course from the Administrative Team on where we've been, where we are, and where we go next. From my perspective, creating a regional plan that incorporates all of the priorities of the participants, puts forth real solutions, and remains somewhat user-friendly is going to be a difficult challenge. We should also try to make it somewhat briefer than Obama's Health Care Plan. The HUD Performance Report requires, "local plans to be completed first and the common elements contributing to the regional plan to be completed in 2013." So, the issues that were chosen by most steering committees go into the regional plan. The question then becomes what else should a regional plan include? Should the many parallel plans be included? What new and additional issues need to be considered?
Those questions cannot be answered without the input of the Consortium members and the stakeholders among us. The Administrative Team will start with a 'blueprint' or 'template' for consideration at the next Consortium meeting on April 11th in Killdeer.
If anyone has ideas, questions or concerns, I'd enjoy hearing from you.
Mark Resner
Chair, Vision West ND Consortium
markresner@gmail.com
maresner@nd.gov
Office: 701-824-4205
Cell: 701-567-3708
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