By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
A website under construction now in Cabot will give residents an opportunity to tell city leaders what they want from their hometown.
The website is the first step toward community development, a concept that city leaders say has never received much attention be-fore.
The city grew because of the schools. Commercial development followed, but no one ever questioned if the city is growing in the way residents want it to.
“We have never done any kind of survey to find out what they want their hometown to be,” Alderman Ed Long said. “Do they want only commercial business to support them when they come home? Do they want to remain – and I hate this term – a bedroom community? Or do they want us to try to get some light industry here?”
Long is one of six council members who will serve on the new community development committee that is chaired by Alderman Kevin Davis.
In a news release about the two-week-old committee, Davis said, “As a committee we will be focusing on short-term, mid-term and long-term opportunities for the city to develop into what the citizens desire...
Short-term goals are those opportunities that are setting in front of us that are waiting to be developed. Mid-term goals are those opportunities that could be developed within one to five years, based on costs and convenience. Long-term goals are those opportunities that will be within 10 years and beyond that will better enhance our city for the future.”
Long said two short-term goals are the development of the areas around the new baseball and water-park complex that will be built on Hwy. 321 and development on Hwy. 367 near the railroad overpass.
The development would have to be promoted. Whether that is by a billboard on the freeway or an ad in the Wall Street Journal, it needs to be promoted in some way, Long said.
“I think there is a desire to do that and a little bit of money to do it and that could be started pretty quickly,” he said.
Eventually money to promote the city will become a line on the city budget.
Mayor Bill Cypert said he thinks the council will look at several options for the 2015 budget, including building permits, franchise fees, real-estate tax and liquor tax.
He didn’t say any existing taxes would be increased or that a liquor tax would be implemented for the growing number of restaurants that now serve alcohol in Cabot.
But Cypert said the council would need to look at all available options.
Of the funding possibilities, Long said he is opposed to increasing franchise fees because those are passed along to the consumers. And he doesn’t think anyone wants to raise property tax. But the council could change how it is allocated, he added.
As for who would do the work of promoting Cabot, Long said a consulting firm would likely be hired.
The first step is the website that is being built now. It will be linked to the city’s website.
Long said, eventually, the Cabot Water and Wastewater Commission might be asked to give development incentives. But, first, it will likely be asked to place inserts in water bills asking customers to log on and say how they want their city to grow.
