An exciting event took place in the community room of Tri-County EMC last week, which consisted of presentation of the work of a grassroots organization to Jones County and Gray’s elected officials.

The best part of the April 28 event happened because of the elected officials. They not only attended the meeting, they listened.

The City of Gray was represented by all of its city councilmen and mayor, and Jones County commissioners were minus only one member, even though they were just returning from a three-day conference in Savannah.

The Board of Education was represented by two members, as was the Jones County Development Authority, and Gray’s Downtown Development Authority was represented by four members.

In addition to local elected officials, State Rep. Bubber Epps, also returning from Savannah, attended the meeting.

The presentation was by the committee chairmen of Jones County People Looking Ahead Now (PLAN). The grassroots organization was formed by a steering committee of community leaders in 1997.

Jones County/Gray Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Carmen Copeland welcomed the attendees and began with a brief overview of the PLAN organization.

She said, over the past decade, PLAN helped with the formation of Jones County Family Connections and Operation Early Intervention and the reactivation of the Jones County Development Authority. Committees from the organization were instrumental in the development of the county’s Gateway, Landscape, Sidewalk, and Buffer ordinances, and PLAN committees worked with the Middle Georgia Regional Development Center to develop the community’s Comprehensive Plan.

PLAN members initiated applications for ISTEA and Better Hometown grants, and the History and Heritage group began in the grassroots organization. PLAN’s Housing Committee collected and provided data allowing tax credits necessary for new affordable housing for seniors, and an intensive yearlong study of the county’s water system was a product of the group.

This past year PLAN committees were the driving force behind the formation of Gray’s Downtown Development Authority, created multiuse zoning to encourage development in Gray and Jones County, initiated a homeless count in Jones County, worked with Jones County High School to add a course for financial responsibility, and held credit seminars for the community.

Copeland explained that 60 PLAN members traveled to Little Ocmulgee State Park the first of the month for its 12th annual retreat. The results of the work at the retreat were presented to the elected officials because the majority of them were not able to attend the wrap-up session.

Committee reports began with Donald Black, chairman of the Housing Committee. Black said one of his group’s initiatives is to work together with other committees, and their first priority is to research ordinances for housing development and to coordinate home buying education courses at the high school.

“We need to develop a list of realtors that would be willing to talk to students as part of the finance course,” he said.

Black said new developments should be walkable communities, and his committee is concerned at the number of seniors walking from Dulles Park to the grocery store.

He said they have not received the results from the January homeless count, and they plan to set up a meeting with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to discuss the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing.

Chris Smarr spoke for the Community Development Committee and talked about their idea of connecting neighborhoods and schools with sidewalks, bicycle and golf cart paths.

“I was sharing with my daughter about our plan for sidewalks, and my 12-year-old grandson got interested. He was excited to think he could ride his bicycle to school,” she said.

She said the first task toward the paths is to identify the target areas and had two different maps to start the process. One of the maps began with the schools around Gray, and the other focused on Dulles Park and making stores accessible for seniors.

Smarr said the short-term goal for the committee is to review zoning codes, beginning with comparing local codes with those of other cities and counties. She said form-based codes are needed to deal with the composition and form of construction.

Greg Mullis, chairman of the Economic Development Committee, reported that the group’s short-term goal is to hire an executive director for the Jones County/Gray Chamber of Commerce and Development Authority of Jones County.

He said the committee members would also like to see an inventory of marketable assets and the drafting of a redevelopment plan to explore potential opportunity zones. Another idea is to form an industry program to foster and nourish local businesses.

The long-term plan is the installation of a wastewater treatment plant at Jones County’s industrial park, and the creation of a history museum in or around Gray.

Josh Lurie presented for the Infrastructure and Planning and began by talking about the need for an inventory of commercial property for sale and lease in Gray, and the posting of that inventory on a website. That inventory would also include a rating system for the vacant property.

Their long-range plan was the development of a master plan for downtown Gray and outlaying areas. The first step of that plan is defining study areas and finding a funding source.

Lurie said the second priority for his group was to create a resolution to allow the city to use its powers under the redevelopment act. He said PLAN could submit the resolution to the city with the hope of its adoption.

“This is one way to show that we are ready for the next big development,” he said.

Copeland closed the event by stating that the committees have lofty goals and the members understand that the projects will take time.

“But nothing can happen without a shared vision. The next step is a visioning session between elected officials and community leaders,” she said.