Last week, community members from the cities of Grenora, Ray, and Tioga in addition to others from throughout Williams County participated in the Williams County planning session held August 19-21.

Residents of the county that participated in the county's strategic planning process identified a variety of quality of life issues they are facing amid ever-expanding oil and gas industry development. Crime rates have increased, many said, and cities like Grenora, Epping, Ray, and Springbrook have no way of enforcing city ordinances because they lack police officers. When crimes in those areas are phoned in, the Williams County Sheriff Department is the agency that responds. This can cause significant response time delays as there often may not be a sheriff's deputy stationed close to the area.

Other issues discussed included road and traffic safety concerns, a severely limited housing supply, lack of adequate child care, the loss of local places to shop, access to healthcare, recreational opportunities, and "community connectedness". Community connectedness was described as knowing one's neighbor, feeling comfortable with newcomers, and integrating new people into the community.

Ken Munson, Mayor of the City of Ray, opens the Vision West ND townhall meeting in the city's Auditorium.

Members of the Ray community gathered at the city auditorium August 19, enjoyed a nice meal, and shared their concerns and ideas for the future. Though most of those attending thought that Ray was a nice place full of good friends and neighbors, issues like shortages of affordable housing, increases in emergency services calls, struggles with business attraction, and a shortage of available land were noted. Ideas to increase Ray's quality of life and the overall livability of the town were brainstormed: 

• Restoration of the city's museum
• Slower speeds for trucks in the area surrounding the city
• Senior adult living accommodations
• A city clean-up day that would allow residents to have their unused clutter disposed of free of charge
• A citywide beautification project that could include having flowers and trees planted around the city
• Keeping property taxes low
• Increasing communication between city staff, the city commission, citizens, and developers

Main Street in Tioga, ND

As in Ray, residents of Tioga met on August 20 to talk about their issues. The city is developing a funding mechanism for a swimming pool as well as eliminating "eyesore" buildings on city main street lots. Tioga has allowed for the addition of several apartment complexes, which has aided in the overall housing shortage. Still, community members said, the city still needs and wants more single family homes. Housing affordability is also still an issue. Tioga has a unique program in place to address public safety. Currently, six full time police officers are assisted on a limited basis by volunteer police department reservists. These volunteers go through extensive training and add a sense of security to the community. Other issues identified in Tioga include:

• Need for a new public library. The current library in the city is located in the school district's building, which no longer has the capacity to house a public library
• Expanding airport and air service
• Upgrades to the routes into town are needed
• Dust from truck traffic is affecting the town

Mike Zimney, the lead GIS analyst for Ulteig, explains his company's findings on which parts of the region are the "worst of the worst" in terms of ambulance and EMS coverage.

On August 21 and 22, Vision West ND Consortium members met in Bottineau, ND. The Consortium is responsible for preparing and implementing the regional plan, as well as communicating the information learned in the planning process to local, state, and federal parties. During the first day of the Consortium meeting, Joel Quanbeck and representatives of Ulteig Engineering presented the results of a study commissioned by the ND Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties on EMS service coverage in western ND. Several areas were identified as those that would benefit from additional EMS service providers. The presentation made describing that draft study is available on the NDAOGPC website at http://www.ndenergy.org/Resources.aspx or by clicking this link.

Bonnie Helm, the McHenry County representative on the Consortium, gave a presentation on how the Vision West ND steering committee in her county was moving forward in implementing their strategic plan. She explained how subcommittees had been formed around each of the economic development strategies and quality of life initiatives previously selected by the steering committee. Each subcommittee meets regularly to work on the key action steps needed to move closer to the county's envisioned goal.

During the latter part of the Consortium meeting, representatives of Envision Utah, a similar project within the Beehive State, facilitated small group discussions on each of the five top issues being faced in the west; Transportation and Roads, Water, Childcare, Emergency Services, and Housing. The small groups outlined action steps that can be taken regarding progress on each of the issues. That information will be folded into the regional plan. 

In addition to their own Drop Box activation, it's also recommended that all Vision West ND Plan Directors contact their Steering Committee members and urge them to accept the Drop Box invitation if they have not already. Many have done so, but a majority have not. Those that do not have their own Drop Box folder already established, don't worry. You may contact Vision West ND Plan Facilitator Brian Cole at bc@buildingcommunities.us, and the process of getting one started is quite easy!