Plans for Wellington community assessment under way

By Gary Raham
Wellington Correspondent

A planning consultant with former ties to Wellington, Gene Allen, will coordinate community groups in a rare opportunity to have state experts conduct an economic development assessment.

Wellington is one of six Colorado communities to be selected this year to participate in an assessment by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. The assessment is based on the perceived needs of the community and likelihood that the town will follow through with suggested implementation strategies.

According to the OED, its purpose is to "provide a low-cost community evaluation in order to assist communities in realistic visioning and strategic planning as it relates to economic development. The goal of the community assessment is to provide the community with resources and contact information so that it may plan, execute and complete a locally conceived and driven economic development strategic plan."

Allen's job is to serve as a community liaison with the assessment team to coordinate input from several focus groups representing various interests in the community. Allen brings considerable experience in community planning to the task. In the 1960s, he worked as the first planning director for Fort Collins and since then has worked as a community development director for a variety of small towns on both slopes of the Colorado Rockies. He said he made a conscious decision to stay at the local level of government, rather than state or higher levels, because he likes working with individuals.

"You can see the things you accomplish," he said.

Allen takes a personal interest in Wellington because he served as an interim town administrator during the selection process that resulted in current administrator, Larry Lorentzen, taking the job several years ago. At a recent town board planning session, Allen noted the town's new residential and business growth and said, "I like what you've done here."

The board will be working on a tight schedule to assemble focus groups that will present information to the assessment team during the three days it will be on site. Currently, that is scheduled to happen sometime in October. The assessment team will take information from these focus groups on the second day of its visit and come up with an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats within the community.

The board has made a preliminary stab at how these focus groups may be organized: government entities, utilities, business community representatives and the community at large. Government entities would include such bodies as the fire department, Larimer County, Colorado Department of Transportation, Poudre School District, the sheriff's department and the town board. Utilities would include those agencies that provide water, phone, electricity and other basic services. Business input would come largely from members of the new chamber of commerce. All other interests would fall in the community-at-large category.

Town administrator Lorentzen targeted a community economic survey as one of the first elements needed to identify community concerns and interests. He said that the last such survey was done in 1997 and "now we have a whole new town."

Allen said that finding focus group leaders would be one of the more difficult tasks because these individuals would have to put in considerable time during the next 120 days or so to coordinate their respective groups and consolidate their input.

The assessment team, after analyzing focus group input, presents its findings at a town meeting. The community is charged with printing and distributing the community findings and recommendations and completing a basic strategic plan with priorities, timelines and responsibilities following the assessment. The state organization follows up in six months and again after a year to check on whether suggestions have been implemented.

Anyone interested in getting more involved in a focus group should contact Larry Lorentzen at Wellington Town Hall, 568-3381.