rior to any community meetings, you need to prepare for the tough questions that might ensue. Here are some you may encounter:
• Can’t the private sector build the facility for less, and without taxpayer money?
• I won’t use it and no one else will either.
• We did not need one when we were just a farming community. Why do we need one now?
• Seniors and low-income households can’t afford to go!
• What’s wrong with the old facility?
There will be many more questions, of course. The more you do your homework beforehand, the better the meeting will go.
So, as a good planner, you should first:
Assess the need
What’s the condition of the current facility (if any)?
How about expected customer loads?
Customer satisfaction?
Customer patronage of other facilities?
Customer desire for a more updated facility?
Projected customer need 20 years down the road?
Who is being served?
Who is not being served?
Assess the feasibility of a new facility
What value will it add to the community? For example, what are the benefits?
What will it cost to run?
Will it pay its own operating costs?
How would you pay for construction — and the furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) costs?
• Bonds?
• Fund drives?
• Donations?
How deep is the labor pool?
Who is the competition?
• Other local facilities?
• Other recreational opportunities?
What is the political climate?
• Pro-business factions will push for a private endeavor.
• Pro-community factions will push for a publicly funded facility.
What are some possible locations?
How far will people need to travel?
What kind of walk-in traffic can be expected?
What is the environmental impact?
• Traffic?
• Noise?
• Visual?
• Smell?
Should you build a larger “magnet” facility, or small satellite facilities?
Are there other public or private partners that can join in the project?
• School districts?
• Sponsors?
• Business interests?
How will you gather the information?
• Community meetings?
• Focus groups?
• Surveys?
• Community groups, such as PTAs, service clubs, churches?
• Census records?
• Municipal/county planning departments?
• Other cities with similar populations or facilities?
Before a consultant, have you considered:
• Convenience?
• Cost?
• Pitfalls?
