City hires planning expert

By Rosanne Fohn

Anvil Herald Reporter

Hondo City Council Monday night voted to spend $98,875 for planning services to update the city’s Comprehensive Master Plan.

The contract will be signed with ACP Strategies doing business as Ash+Lime LLC. Rik Adamski, an independent contractor, is the primary consultant. He has experience in providing planning services with small rural cities to large urban areas and comes highly recommended by City Manager John Naron. “Rik is very, very good,” Naron said, having known Adamski’s work from the Dallas area before Naron became city manager of Hondo.

The work will be completed with the help of subcontractor Verdunity, a planning and engineering firm with strong infrastructure and municipal finance expertise, city materials state.

The Comprehensive Master Plan is the primary policy document guiding land-use decisions, zoning, infrastructure coordination and capital improvement planning. Under the Unified Development Code, the Comprehensive Master Plan serves as the primary policy reference for Planning and Zoning Commission recommendations and city council action.

Some work on the comprehensive master plan had begun under the city’s previous director of development, but had not been completed. However, the surveys and information collected during that time will be incorporated into the new planning document, along with new surveys and information collected in person by Adamski and city employees, Naron said.

The objectives of the Comprehensive Plan Update include:

Support development of the Unified Development Code.

Establish a clear five-year framework for the city.

Translate the city’s vision into clean planning principles, policy direction and tradeoffs based on priorities.

Guide growth and development expectations.

Align zoning with city goals.

Coordinate land use and development policy with existing water and wastewater planning efforts.

Provide policy-level guidance to help the city proactively understand and plan for the impacts of future development.

Build public and council understanding and support for informed decision-making through clear communication of goals, priorities and tradeoffs.

Mayor John McAnelly said, “It’s very important in the process that council, staff and citizens are involved in this. It’s very important for people to participate.”

Naron added, “We have input from the same 10 people in city government. I want to hear from regular Hondo folks.” He hopes to set up survey posts at local places where people go regularly to catch people who would not ordinarily go to the city’s website to fill out a survey.

The cost of the comprehensive plan work will be paid from the General Fund’s fund balance.