Local input critical to expansion plan

Through open houses and public presentations this Wed. and Thurs. at the Cheyenne County Community Center, the Sidney Expansion team was able to gather needed information from concerned community members, about the housing expansion in East Sidney.

Dennis Armstrong, a corporate architect for Cabela’s and one of the presenters during the culminating formal presentation Thursday night at 6 p.m., said that these meetings were just the beginning of a long process.

“This is the first step of the multi-step process. What we have learned over these two days has given us foundation for what we really need and what would be helpful,” Armstrong said.

Even though the initial presentation series concluded last night, Armstrong emphasized how much community feedback will still be needed as the planning process continues.

“We are pleading for input,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong said that the voices of the community are extremely important and hopes that community members will take advantage of the survey found on the http://www.sidneyexpansion.com website and will leave comments.

The expansion team is also looking for opinions on the expansion, as well as how community members view the project and its importance to the city, Armstrong said.

“Our goal is to make sure this integrates well with the city. Not that many communities are offered that opportunity,” Armstrong said.

Jeffrey Winston, a principal at MIG and another member of the presenting team, said that the group members have already gained valuable information during the two open houses.

Winston said that from the meetings the expansion team has learned a lot about recreational ideas from the community as well as knowledge about utilities.

“We didn’t know for sure how well positioned the city was, but we confirmed it was good. We were relieved to find that water and sewer were in pretty good shape,” said Winston.

Winston said that next plan on the agenda is to talk more with hospital officals to work on any alternatives or adjustments to the proposed new site for the hospital.

Armstrong said as planning continues, team members hope to continue receiving community feedback so that the needs of Sidney’s people are met.

“You can’t do this in a vacuum. In other words, we can’t do this by ourselves. This needs the community’s voice to make sure we hit it on the head,” Armstrong said. “This needs to be an idea that came about because it’s important to the people here in Sidney. If we do that, we have a winner,” Armstrong said.