Foundation enlists help from planner

Input from township residents is crucial, a planner from Indiana says.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Dr. James Segedy's voice echoed off the white walls and wooden ceiling beams in Austintown library's community room.
"Why are we here?" he asked the 25 people in front of him. They were seated in the library's Amish-style wooden chairs at tables that formed a semicircle.
There was a quiet pause. Only the blowing sound of the library's air system could be heard. The audience seemed taken aback by Segedy's question.
"This is what I was afraid ..."
"Because it's cold outside," joked Carol Fye, cutting Segedy off.
A man in the audience said the group wanted to create a plan for Austintown's future.
"This whole thing is about building positive momentum," Segedy said later. "The whole Youngstown area has been on a downward momentum. We need to make sure you're leading the charge on the upside."
Segedy is a professor of urban planning and director of community-based projects at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. He recently came to the library to talk with members of the Austintown Growth Foundation about their plans for the future of the township.
Creating a plan
Dr. Fred Owens, foundation president, said his group wants to work with Segedy to give township residents a chance to create a plan for the community's future.
"Whatever comes out will be the community's vision, the community's plan," he stressed. Foundation member James D'Eramo, chairman of the township zoning commission, added, "We do not want this to be the Austintown Growth Foundation's plan.
"It's got to be Austintown's plan. We're just giving a little shove," D'Eramo said.
Owens added, "If you don't know where you're going, you're likely to end up somewhere else."
Both Owens and Segedy described the plan as a "cookbook" that will contain instructions on how to move forward with community improvements.
Owens said he spoke with several urban planners who recommended that Segedy direct the foundation's efforts to create a plan. He noted that Segedy has written a handbook on community planning.
Segedy said that he's been involved with about 80 community development projects and that in the early 1990s, he helped create development proposals for Pine Lake in Beaver Township.
Wanted fresh perspective
The foundation chose Segedy for the project because it thought a planner from outside the area would have a unique perspective of Austintown, Owens said. That perspective might lead to new ideas for development, he said.
Segedy described Austintown as a community that no longer wants to be "an appendage to that granddaddy over there."
"You're saying that you're not going to be just a bedroom community for Youngstown anymore," he said. "Right now, you're a suburb looking to find its identity.
"I think one of the first things you have to figure out is who you are," Segedy said.
While Boardman is known for shopping, Canfield is known for its downtown green, and Poland is known for large homes, Austintown does not have its own personality, Fye said.
"Austintown really is such a mixture," she said. "We have a lot of things to brag about, but I still don't think we have our own identity."
Community meetings
Segedy said the first step in developing a comprehensive plan is to host town hall meetings so residents can talk about the identity of their community. Segedy can then determine what needs to be done to give Austintown that identity.
Growth foundation members are expected to have three community meetings in February to discuss the township's future and identity. The foundation also will sponsor focus groups to talk about the township with business leaders, public employees, students and others.
Most people who attend town hall meetings talk about jobs and community beautification, Segedy said.
Township Clerk Michael Kurish asked Segedy if he'd "ever been in one community where the majority of folks want things to stay the same?" Segedy replied that residents of a community in Indiana expressed that sentiment at a town hall meeting Monday night.
He said he tells those residents that "change is happening."
"All you have to do is point to all the changes that have happened," such as the closings of stores and business, Segedy said.
Segedy and his staff, which includes Ball State students, will collect the comments made at the town hall meetings and focus groups to create a draft of the comprehensive plan. The draft could be complete by the end of June, Segedy said.
More public meetings will then take place so local residents can comment on the draft. Those comments will be used to create the final version of the plan.
Estimated cost
Segedy estimated the cost to create the plan at about $20,000. The growth foundation, which is a nonprofit group, will work to raise money for the project.
Segedy added that he can return to Austintown at the request of the growth foundation to help implement the plan.
Some of those at last week's meeting asked Segedy if he believes Austintown officials need to work with Youngstown officials to better their communities in the future.
"You've got to work together, there's no doubt about it. But at the same time you don't have to be a parasite living off whether they survive or don't," Segedy said. "When it begins to get competitive for finite resources, then you have to start drawing the line in the sand."
As the meeting came to a close, Segedy asked the growth foundation, "So ... are we going to do this?"
There was another pause. One audience member stood up, picked up his jacket and left.
"We're already scaring them away," Segedy joked.
"So ... are we?" he asked again.
"Yes," township Trustee Richard Edwards said. He later said he feels the plan can help send Austintown on the right path for the future.
Edwards added, "I'd rather try and fail than not try at all."
hill@vindy.com