Johnson's Community Visit: Stage II
by Ben Hogwood

The Town and Village of Johnson moved one step closer to where community
members want it to be after receiving the second visit from the Vermont
Council on Rural Development.
During the first meeting, held March 30, community members met with
representatives from state and federal offices as well as nonprofit
organizations to discuss particular topics, such as transportation,
communications and zoning. Paul Costello, executive director of VCRD,
collected the feedback from all the representatives and returned to
Johnson on Tuesday, April 27. After discussing the feedback with
community members in the Johnson Elementary School gym, a vote was taken
to whittle the area's priorities first down to 10 items and then to five.
Town and village people decided the top five priorities for Johnson are
economic development, communications and events coordination, housing,
zoning and implementation of the Main Street Plan. Community members
will form committees for each priority and will write up a vision
statement. Those five statements will then be combined to make one
comprehensive vision for Johnson, said Duncan Hastings, Johnson Town and
Village administrator.
The economic development committee will investigate ways to attract new
employers and nurture entrepreneurial development as the two main
priorities. One of the problems with bringing in or creating businesses
in Johnson is that telecommunications are poor, with a lack of broadband
access and poor cell phone service, according to the feedback given to
Costello from the visiting team. "Proactive planning and pre-site
development might lure better cell service," stated a press release from
VCRD.
The committee will also explore whether to exploit the possible tourism
aspects of the town. "Johnson is poised by its location, beauty, and
natural resources to benefit more broadly from the regional recreation
economy; these opportunities are integrally tied to the community's
economic development efforts," stated the VCRD press release. Johnson
could bring visitors in by attracting a hotel or bed and breakfast to
the area, as well as by expanding and improving river access for
canoeists, building an information kiosk, and developing a marketing
campaign around its assets and resources, it continues.
The communications and events coordination committee will plan to
structure communications throughout the Johnson community for youth
activities and recreation, college and community events and town/village
developments. The visiting group stated that communications between the
different groups in Johnson are sometimes fragmented, with no single
entity coordinating all the events. The community could benefit from
developing a calendar of events unifying JSC, the Studio Center, JES,
Lamoille Union High School and the town and village government. "This
calendar could be multimedia, employing the web, a public notice board
or kiosk downtown, a newsletter, and the college radio station," states
the group feedback.
The housing committee will examine ways to increase the number of
adequate housing units, as well as housing for elders. The visiting
group noted that the housing problem has assumed larger importance as
the need for student housing has increased.
The zoning committee should work on getting zoning in the village
effected as soon as possible, stated the VCRD release. "Its absence may
slow downtown investment and undermine the housing market," it said.
The final project for Johnson will be the implementation of the Main
Street Plan. The visiting team believes this will be the best investment
to attract businesses and jobs to the community. "Johnson residents
should unite to support this crucial step in downtown and community
development," stated the VCRD. The Main Street Plan is a large project
involving the beautification of the area by burying power lines and
increasing the number of trees, amongst other ideas.
Duncan Hastings, Johnson Village and Town administrator, said the
meeting was very focused and there was a lot of consensus around these
five topics. Approximately 75 people attended the meeting.
The Johnson Elementary School will host another meeting on Tuesday, May
18, where Hastings is hoping each committee will come out with an
elected chair. "The more people we can get, the better," he said of the
involvement with this project. The meeting goes from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in
the school gym.