Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil, IA
01-29-07
SILVER CITY - Located along the Loess Hills Scenic Byway approximately 25
miles south and east of Council Bluffs is a tiny town with inspired inhabitants.
Though the population of Silver City has dwindled to just 260 people, citizens in
the area have fought to retain the local public library, a volunteer fire department,
an antiquated jail and three city parks.
Members of the southwest Iowa community are now eager to improve the look of
the land even more after being selected as one of 12 communities to participate
in Iowa's "Living Roadways Community Transportation Visioning Program"
by the Iowa Department of Transportation, Trees Forever and Iowa State
University. To qualify, a community must have existing transportation-related
issues and a committee of volunteers willing to dedicate their time and talent.
"It's not an actual cash grant," explained Pam Helfer, project manager with Trees
Forever, a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization, of the program. "What
is provided are services to the community valued in excess of $8,000."
Helfer said the towns of Logan, Missouri Valley, Shelby, Oakland, Atlantic, Lewis,
Red Oak and Stanton are all previous selections for the program, which enlists a
broad spectrum of local volunteers to plan enhancements to the town while
integrating environmental stewardship.
Members of the Silver City volunteer committee, which consists of business
owners, educators and a master gardener, among others, are required to assess
the natural, cultural and aesthetic landscape resources in the community and
identify and prioritize what needs to be improved.
The design program then introduces the volunteer groups to the benefits and
services of design professionals by providing them with a team of professional
landscape architects and architectural students from Iowa State University to
help them create a conceptual plan that reflects the vision of the community
leaders and volunteers.
"Some of the topics we wanted to cover with facilitators," said Carolyn
Blasingame, a member of the Silver City committee, "are the beautification of the
main street and landscaping."
Issues Blasingame and the committee will address in the coming months include
the sidewalks in front of businesses, the streetlights along main street and the
entryway welcome signs in town that don't currently list the attractions in Silver
City, such as the popular farmer's market held every Saturday in the summer
months.
At the conclusion of the seven-month program, drawings and photographs
depicting the concept designs, along with an action plan to help prepare the
community to implement what has been decided upon will hopefully assist the
community in finding funding sources.
"Not only do they help us with developing a vision and setting up the plan with
architects, they set up steps for how we can find funds for each particular
project," Blasingame said. "They walk us through it."
"We set them up for long-term action and sustainability," Helfer said.
During this process, Trees Forever field coordinators provide guidance,
education and structured facilitation of the planning process in order to make
sure the leaders of the community make sound decisions in regards to the
landscape.
Since 1996, 125 Iowa communities with a population under 10,000 have
benefited from the Community Visioning Program.