The Ashland County Planning Committee on Thursday agreed on next steps to update the county comprehensive plan, scheduling a focused planning committee meeting for 1 p.m. on March 19 and planning to ask the full county board to invite a representative from Northwest Regional Planning to introduce its services at the March 26 county board meeting.

Committee members said they will produce a one‑page (or two‑page maximum) executive summary of the county’s existing goals and objectives for committee and board review before Northwest Regional Planning begins substantive work. The committee discussed timing for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) planning application and the county’s Low‑ and Moderate‑Income (LMI) eligibility as factors that influence the schedule.

Committee Chair (unnamed in the record) said the March 19 meeting will focus on drafting a short summary of priorities to guide the region’s planner, and that the planning committee will provide a brief update at each county board meeting going forward so the full board stays informed. Dan Wentz said the county board is expected to vote on hiring Northwest Regional Planning on March 26 and recommended inviting a Northwest representative—identified in discussion as “Sheldon”—to present an initial outline of the process to the full board.

Why it matters: committee members emphasized that an update of the county comprehensive plan will shape long‑range choices on housing, natural resources, transportation and economic development. Several members said data and community input are both essential: the professional planner can compile baseline statistics and trend data, while local outreach and surveys will surface community priorities.

What the committee discussed and decided
- Schedule: The committee set a planning committee meeting for 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19, to draft the short summary of priorities. The full county board meeting on March 26 is the anticipated date to finalize hiring of Northwest Regional Planning and to invite the region’s representative to give a process overview.
- Grant timing and eligibility: Staff said the county will submit required CDBG/planning grant materials after the March 26 board meeting; the county’s LMI percentage requirement (discussed in the meeting) must be met for grant qualification. Staff reported only four municipalities in the county exceeded the 51% LMI threshold used for eligibility: City of Ashland, Butternut, Mellon and Sanborn.
- Consultant cost range: During discussion a speaker identified as Ross Gerber said the consultant work would likely cost a minimum of $25,000 and as much as $75,000.
- Committee roles: Committee members agreed to divide responsibility for the plan’s topical elements (the state’s core elements and any additional local chapters) so individual committee members can serve as liaisons and attend subject‑area stakeholder meetings.
- Outreach approach: Members favored a hybrid approach combining data compiled by the consultant and targeted outreach (surveys, town‑board contacts and committee meetings) to gather public input; staff offered draft survey questions and “fun facts” materials to aid public engagement.

Votes and formal actions recorded during the meeting included routine procedural motions (approval of the modified agenda and prior meeting minutes) and the adjournment motion; those procedural votes were carried by the members present (see "Actions" below for structured details). The committee also noted that the county board previously approved the appointment of Charlie Ortman as a non‑voting, participatory member of this planning committee; committee members said Charlie has accepted that role.

Additional context and next steps
Committee members and staff stressed the need to avoid doing significant preparatory work before Northwest Regional Planning is onboard, but they also emphasized that some stakeholder outreach can begin sooner: committee members were encouraged to solicit input from town boards, liaisons and affiliated commissions in their districts and to share those comments at future committee meetings. Staff said baseline data (population figures, building permit trends, equalized value reports and similar data) can be obtained quickly, while more extensive background work may require consultant support.

The committee chair said the planning committee will provide a brief update at each county board meeting and that committee members should notify the chair of their preferred topical assignments before the March 19 meeting. The committee set March 19, 1:00 p.m., as the next planning committee meeting date.