City of Quitman Texas

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News from 11/4/2009

Quitman 2030 - Planning the Future of Our Community

Quitman 2030 –Involvement Sought to Determine the Future of Our Community

An effort to establish and move toward a unique and uniting vision for Quitman’s future is now underway and will officially begin at a Community Conference on November 5 at 7:00 PM in the Carroll Green Civic Center, 101 E Goode St , Quitman. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. Under a process approved by the City Council and Planning & Zoning Commission, a 20-year plan for the community, called ‘Quitman 2030’, will begin to take shape over the next few weeks and months. “All we are missing is you,” announced Mayor Jerry Edwards, “We are going to rely on the people of the community to tell us what Quitman will become and how to accomplish that. We have folks in our community who are knowledgeable and passionate about specific areas or issues and we need them involved.”

To become a part of this effort, you can sign-up online at www.quitmantx.org, by emailing to Q2030@quitmantx.org, or by calling City Hall at 903-763-4045. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend the Community Conference on November 5^th to find out more and engage in the process.

‘Quitman 2030’ is being led by Mayor Edwards and a Community Involvement Committee which is segmented into functional areas with leadership as follows, Bill Beech (Land Use / Zoning), Jim Dozier (Transportation / Circulation), Dr. Paul Driver (Community Facilities / Services), Sam Lange (Housing / Development), and Lance White (Economics / Population). Edwards explained, “There are a lot of very specific issues to be addressed under each of these areas and there will be several working groups focusing on different topics, such as business development, parks and recreation, downtown revitalization, quality of city services, and so much more.” At the kick-off, “We want to tell people about the need for planning our future and how we are going to do it,” Edwards said, “But we really want to help them find how they can engage to help determine and brighten our future.” Following the kick-off, working groups will begin looking at information about existing conditions and identifying concerns as well as specific solutions.

Edwards emphasized the need for involvement from all parts of the community including individual citizens, businesses, organizations, our youth, and other governmental bodies. “Focusing on creating a workable, useable plan based on a vision of the community that comes from the community and coordinating that with everyone involved – that’s what ‘Quitman 2030’ is all about.”, Edwards said. He also noted his desire to keep the process open and encouraging to unique ideas, “There are no presets here. We’ve got some good information from the last round of planning, but we want to go more in-depth and find some real solutions to the issues facing our community.”

Previous planning efforts from the past few years included a similar community outreach that provided some goals and objectives. In May 2008, the Council approved a ‘brochure plan’ which included updated zoning maps, a thoroughfare (transportation) plan, and a future land-use plan. “We are building on that foundation and expanding our planning to be more comprehensive, increasingly detailed and farther sighted.” Edwards said. Prior to the recent planning efforts, the last Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Regulations are from 1975 and have not otherwise been updated.

The community’s declining economy and aging infrastructure were cited by Edwards as the catalyst for this effort now. “Drive around. Which way is our quality of life headed? Our retail sales and property values are declining and that means reduced resources for the City to provide services and invest in and repair facilities. We must work together to find solutions we can all agree on to move forward.” Edwards said. Another priority he noted was the need to not only preserve, but to protect the unique rural feel of the community, “We need to figure out who we are – what makes Quitman different, and what are strengths are or can be. Then we need to capitalize on that to build a community that not only survives – but thrives.”

For more information contact City Hall at:

401 E Goode (physical address)

P.O. Box 1855, Quitman, TX 75783

(903) 763-4045 / (903) 763-5631 [fax]