WHAT WAS SAID AT THE INTERVIEWS
The seven (7)-member Resource Team spent two days interviewing the local residents to hear what they had to say. Those being interviewed were directed to answer four questions:
- What are the major problems/challenges in the community?
- What are the major strengths/assets of the community?
- What projects would you like to see implemented in the short term (12 months or less)?
- What projects would you like to see implemented in the long term (the next two or three years)?
We have listed below, without comment, what we heard from those who volunteered to be interviewed.
CITY & COUNTY GOVERNMENT
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR PROBLEMS/CHALLENGES IN THE COMMUNITY?
- New business in area needed
- Lack of trained skills
- Need new businesses - something to retain young people in area
- Need some activity center for youth
- Need supervised activities for youth
- Need employment register for available employees to furnish prospective employers
- Museum facilities, possibly for tourist attraction
- New businesses needed
- Library expansion needed
- Lack of organization within community to deal with problems in community (emphasize youth activities)
- Need sewer improvements
- Need streets
- Need cleanup in town
- Migrant workers in area created
- Need ordinances enforced
- Need beautification
- Need to deal with the migrant workers and how they affect the appearance of the community
- Need to update library
- Need to update water system
- Streets and sewer-treatment plant
- Need better cooperation of our merchants in our town
- Lack of a resource center for the area
- Lack of knowledge of Texas Workforce Center
- Lack of training for folks in the community, to be a better marketable product
- Lack of central organization for the community re: volunteers and their expertise
- Lack of clean up due to valuation in increase of taxes
- Lack of place to take junk from clean up
- Lack of a place to take the junk cars
- Need more citizen input in the city government process
- Need centralized facilities for youth that are not in the church
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR STRENGTHS/ASSETS OF THE COMMUNITY?
- People
- Work Ethic
- Life Ethic
- People - Caring community, work well together on projects
- Peach and Melon Festival
- Schools produce good quality students
- Recreational facilities
- Good motto
- Volunteer force is strong and growing
- Churches - Baptist Church has just built a teen center
- Senior Citizens have a good environment to retire in
- Strong churches and civic organizations
- Retired population to draw from to help with community
- Have good support programs for substance abuse problems
- Proximity to colleges in area
WHAT PROJECTS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IMPLEMENTED IN THE SHORT TERM (12 MONTHS OR LESS)?
- New city park in proximity to new baseball park
- New lift station in south part of city
- Annexation program
- Grant for water system improvements
- Develop a more aggressive strategy for city improvements
- Explorer post through police station
- Hire a DARE officer
- Community teen center
- Sewer lift station to support annexation in this area
- Water system improvements
- Street development - Streets are hard to maintain, new streets are needed, existing ones too expensive to maintain
- Clean-up driven by code enforcement
- Downtown business association
- Draw from advantages of universities
- More cooperation with county, schools, and other entities to purchase and use equipment
WHAT PROJECTS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IMPLEMENTED IN THE LONG TERM (THE NEXT TWO OR THREE YEARS)?
- Clean up on an ongoing basis
- Work on alleviating some of the EPA regulations that make clean-up difficult
- Expansion of library
- Museum
- Downtown preservation effort
- Retirement home facility
- Work on state regulations that don't make sense
- Assisted living facility
- Long range plan with implementation schedule
- Motivate citizenry to follow through
- Organization to follow through on needs
- Job training
- Improve county roads to facilitate farming
- Enforcement of codes for clean-up
