Around 10 community members plus some town board members and town staff turned out Tuesday evening at the Pine River Senior Center to hash out a vision for Bayfield's future.
They started out by looking at vision statements for La Plata County and several other towns, and a list of to-do items that came out of economic development meetings in 2008. Some were checked off as having been done.
Town Manager Chris La May cited a need to find out how many of the remaining action steps or goals are still important "and if that's the direction we want Bayfield to go."
The vision will help determine where the town allocates its resources, he said.
Laura Lewis Marchino of the Region 9 Economic Development District facilitated the meeting. She noted the small attendance and said, "We aren't looking for something that's totally locked in. Vision is something people can feel good about." It's a dream for the future, separate from attainability, she said.
The goal for the meeting, she said, was "to create a compelling vision for the town to focus its marketing and economic development efforts."
On the wall she had posted themes that have come up repeatedly in the community - family focus, small town feel, recreation opportunities, a livable community, Western heritage, a viable economy, attractive business climate, Americana preserved, scenic beauty, and civic engagement.
She directed participants to talk among themselves and write down their priorities. The priorities were then stuck on the wall under the applicable category. The largest number of papers were under viable economy/ attractive business climate.
One woman said, "If Bayfield doesn't start investing in its economic growth, you are committing suicide... I'm putting my house up for sale. I want a future for my kid." Another woman also said she was considering moving to Durango.
Keep Bayfield money in Bayfield, the first woman said. Table-mate Chris Brussat agreed. He cited the huge amount of money that leaves town just for grocery shopping. "Money leaves because we have no opportunity to spend it here," he said, adding that people shop in Durango even for things they could get in Bayfield.
Jim Tencza said, "Keeping money in community is well and good, but if it's only local money, we eventually go bankrupt. You need new money. That needs new business. What brings people like that to Bayfield?"
Town board member Ed Morlan suggested, "How about a place where you can get a job?"
Judy Poe objected that "family oriented" excludes households without children or same-sex households.
Brussat added, "What community isn't family-oriented?"
Morlan said, "There's a vision of this being a family-oriented community. I don't want to take that away. I want to add to it."
Tencza said, "It's families that are moving in. Durango is much more a singles lifestyle."
Suzanne Arms said she wants a place where everyone is welcome. "The phrase 'family-oriented' makes me crazy," she said.
Jackie Morlan wanted to add "safe" to the community vision.
Food security was a concern for Arms. There are local families where having enough food is an issue, she said and asserted, "No one should go hungry." She also wanted education, personal health and wellness in the vision.
Ron Dunavant cited the need for sustainability, whether it's in food production or the environment; also consideration for future generations.
Arms countered that some locals don't like the word sustainability. That's what sank the county comprehensive plan (in 2011), she said.
Marchino directed participants to stick colored dots on their preferred written comments. Then she narrowed the focus by setting aside written comments with the fewest or no dots and invited participants to write vision statements that included the priority items.
Several participants read their statements. There was discussion of the best way to get these out to the community for feedback, such as in the Pine River Times, the library and town web sites.
Follow-up meetings are planned for May 14, 15, 21, and 22 from 6 to 8 p.m. to consider specific topics that will be part of the vision.
