MILFORD — The village of Milford's Visioning Project Steering Committee met last week to put the finishing touches on its vision statement.

The final vision statement is a result of all the information gathered from the village residents over the past month, said Thoma Development Consultants Program Manager and Planner, Wesley Pettee.

Pettee drew up a vision statement that combined the suggestions from last month's resident surveys with the main themes of those draft vision statements that public members created at the session.

During last week's meeting, Thoma and the Steering Committee joined to fine-tune the statement presented by Pettee.

Milford's new vision statement is as follows: "In the year 2025 the Village of Milford is a robust small community in the Leatherstocking Region. Our quality of life is enhanced through strong leadership, thoughtfully managed development, and resident involvement. Vibrant small businesses, tourism opportunities, well-maintained housing, and a strong school coexist, supported by solid infrastructure. We continue to strive to preserve our rural and historic atmosphere, have a well managed parks and recreation program, as well as cultural facilities for community events."

Milford now has a documented plan for its future, almost 25 years down the road, Pettee said.

"It took some time [to finalize the vision statement], but it is important to have a basis to go by," said Kevin Stevens, the Steering Committee Chairman. "Progress is going quite well."

Pettee said the Steering Committee and Thoma also discussed how it would include stakeholders in this planning process. Pettee described the stakeholders as those people who may or may not live in Milford, but whose business impacts the community.

Thoma and the Steering Committee made a list of these stakeholders, including the owners of the Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley Railroad, the Cooperstown Brewing Company, Wilber Bank, Jackie's Restaurant, the Upper Susquehanna Cultural Center and the Milford fire department. Including the input from the stakeholders will help balance the interests of local businesspeople with that of the village residents, Pettee said.

Thoma and the Steering Committee hope to meet with stakeholders by December, Stevens said.

Certain youth and senior citizen groups will also be consulted, Pettee said, as to not overlook any one member of the community's interests.

Pettee said Thoma will now begin gathering more information and begin writing an existing conditions narrative. He said this will help give Thoma and the village a better idea of what demographic trends, land use policies, environmental characteristics, health and public safety issues, infrastructure issues, intergovernmental cooperation, historic and architectural resources, and transportation issues they have to work with.

Thoma will also be conducting a building conditions survey. Pettee said Thoma will be looking at the exterior of Milford buildings over a period of the next three weeks. The survey, which will be included in the overall comprehensive plan for the village, will hopefully serve as documentation to show the need for grant programs to improve business and residential buildings alike, Pettee said.

Stevens said the Steering Committee will also be looking at other communities who have already gone through this comprehensive planning process. The hope is to gain insight from studying the methods used by the other towns and villages, learning what does and does not work.

The Steering Committee has set their next meeting for Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. in the village office, to create focus groups to meet with various groups and stakeholders within the community.

Though an exact date has not yet been scheduled, Thoma and the Steering Committee hope to hold another public meeting, much like last month's visioning session, Pettee said. The meeting, expected to take place early December, will give the members of the Milford community a chance to look at the finalized vision statement.

Village residents will take part in brainstorming goals and strategies to make sure, in 25 years, Milford will look and be like it has been described in the vision statement.

"We really want to involve the public," Pettee said. "It is a community project. We really want them to grab this document and say, 'We had a hand in this.'"

For more information, visit Thoma Development Consultants online at www.thomadevelopment.com. Look for the "What's New" link.