Wellington community dreams its future

By Gary Raham
Wellington Correspondent

About 100 Wellington citizens resisted the temptation of a sunny Saturday on March 25 to gather at Wellington Junior High and begin a process of "Dreaming Wellington's Future."

The event, sponsored by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, was designed to fulfill one of the recommendations of a recent community assessment that Wellington should develop a strategic plan for its future development.

Lilias Jarding facilitated the meeting. She assembled four groups and charged them with dreaming the Wellington they wanted to inhabit in 15 years. Each group generated ideas in a different category of future development: physical infrastructure, leadership qualities, social organizations, and business and economic development. Those who attended were urged to sign up for membership in future committees built around these topics and to transform the ideas into recommendations that could be implemented by town leaders.

Preliminary results of a town survey were also made available. Out of 750 randomly mailed to half of Wellington households, 213 surveys were returned. The results of the first 100 surveys were compiled so they would be available to those who attended. The remainder of the results will be tallied in the coming weeks with results given to the planning commission and the town board to use in planning, prioritizing and budgeting over the next several years.