Members appointed to committee to craft new joint comprehensive plan for Mason City, Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo County

MASON CITY — The city councils in Mason City and Clear Lake as well as the Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors this week approved their appointments to a committee that will help develop a joint comprehensive plan between the cities and county and administered by the North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Corporation.

The new plan would set forth a vision and goals for the county’s future and provides an overall foundation for all land use regulation in the cities and the county.

Mason City mayor Bill Schickel says it’s important for all the government entities to work together to formulate the new plan.  “Clear Lake is Mason City’s biggest asset. We’ve got a great surrounding county. In terms of planning for the future, we’re putting together our comprehensive plan, but it’s important that we do that together.”

Schickel says the governments currently work well together on economic development.  “Right now we work on economic development together, because when companies are looking and locating in this area, we’ve had a lot of interest lately, they’re interested in the entire area. So what’s good for Clear Lake, Cerro Gordo County, is good for Mason City and vice versa. We’re happy to work together to make sure we’re complimenting each other, to make sure the things we do compliment what our partners are doing and the other way around.”

Each government entity appointed a councilman or supervisor, a member of their Planning & Zoning Commission, and a citizen to the Joint Comprehensive Plan Committee:

 

== Paul Adams, Colleen Niedermayer and Melissa Fabian are representing Mason City

 

== Bennett Smith, Mark Bale (Bolley) and Stacy Doughan are representing Clear Lake

 

== and Casey Callanan, Heidi Marquardt, and Andy Meyer are representing Cerro Gordo County