WINNEMUCCA – Eighteen local residents representing all four subcommittees of the Winnemucca Futures Project met at City Hall on Thursday evening (April 21).
The main purpose of the joint meeting was for members of the subcommittees to give each other updates on their respective goals and progress. Each group was assigned a specific focus relating to future scenario planning in the community following the Project seminar that was held last June, and have met routinely since.
Anyone is welcome to join a subcommittee and provide input on how they view change and development in Winnemucca and Humboldt County over the coming years.
Mayor Di An Putnam, who heads the Collaborative Cultures subcommittee, which focuses on community engagement, gave an overview of her team’s plans and achievements. Those included progress towards creating a Winnemucca Futures Project logo, scheduling another community wide meeting for February 2012, greater use of the winnemucca.com online calendar and representing the Winnemucca Futures Project at the next Fourth of July fireworks display.
The Community Capacity subcommittee works to bring leadership skills to the community, and is led by Carrie Stringham. Stringham discussed various leadership courses that were in the pipeline to be brought to the community, including NexLevel business training and a variation of the ‘Courageous Leadership’ course used by Barrick Gold Corporation.
The Building the Foundation subcommittee, led by Brad Schultz and attended by City Manager Steve West, meets to focus on critical infrastructure initiatives needed in the future. Schultz explained that the subcommittee had recently been discussing legislative developments relating to improving broadband communications in the county, development possibilities at the Airport Industrial Park, and futures upgrades that would eventually have to be made to local sewer and water systems.
Finally, Justin Johnston, a new member of the Economic Diversification subcommittee reviewed the research the group had been doing regarding potential uses of geothermal sites not suitable for power production. Additionally, Pat Gray explained that the group had been in communication with Carry-On Trailer about their goals and potential expansion plans and the desire to attract more light to medium manufacturing to the area.
More information about the Winnemucca Futures Project’s subcommittees can be gained by calling the Humboldt Development Authority at 775-623-1064, or emailing winnemuccafutures@gmail.com. A recently published hard copy report of the project’s work to date can also be picked up at City Hall on 90 West Fourth Street.
