The workshop, titled "Imagining Tomorrow Together," included discussions about attracting new employers, improving housing options, revitalizing downtown, expanding recreation, and supporting entrepreneurship. Residents reportedly agreed all of these things were urgently needed, provided they happened somewhere else, looked exactly the same as they do now, and generated no additional traffic whatsoever.
“We absolutely need more jobs for young people,” said resident Carol Bensley moments before opposing a proposed mixed-use development because it might increase activity near the road she already described as “basically unusable after 3:45 p.m.”
Others echoed similar concerns.
“We keep saying our kids move away because there’s nothing here,” said local resident Tom Reardon. “But if we build apartments, restaurants, or entertainment, this town could start feeling different. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to avoid.”
The evening reached a turning point when consultants unveiled a conceptual rendering showing a walkable downtown streetscape with outdoor dining, trees, public gathering areas, and renovated storefronts.
Audience members immediately praised the image, asking why their community could not “have something like that,” before objecting to the loss of four parking spaces shown in the illustration.
According to meeting facilitators, nearly every resident expressed support for “intentional growth,” though no one could fully define what that meant beyond “not too much” and “not near me personally.”
Economic development officials attempted to explain that attracting investment often requires new infrastructure, housing, workforce initiatives, and business development. Residents responded by suggesting the community instead recruit “high-paying companies that create no traffic, require no land, produce no noise, and somehow increase property values.”
At one point, the discussion briefly turned optimistic after several attendees agreed the town needed “more things for families to do.” That momentum reportedly ended after someone mentioned the possibility of food trucks.
By the end of the meeting, city leaders announced plans to create a new long-range visioning committee to study future opportunities while ensuring nothing measurable occurs before at least 2042.
“We’re excited about the direction,” one official said carefully. “As long as we can find a way to move forward without anything actually moving forward.”
