When the City of Centerville and Washington Township came together in the fall of 2002 to begin work on Create the Vision, they were building a bridge between the two communities. The groundwork they did was similar to putting in a foundation and driving pilings.

When they adopted their joint comprehensive Create the Vision plan in 2004, they made history in this county and in this state. Two entities that compete for tax dollars, coming together for the good of the community. Along the way there have been dips and valleys, but still, the end result has culminated in success.

Create the Vision is the guiding policy document for all land use and development decisions being made in our community. It is a long-range, 20-year plan that is just two years into its implementation.

Both the City and the Township have embraced this plan and have pledged to work together to jointly implement, over the next 20 years, the plan’s 198 strategies. More than half of those strategies have now been put into place and are underway.

The remaining strategies are more long-term and long-range and will take much more time to implement. Examples include exploring the benefits of changing state route designation of SR 725 through downtown Centerville, creating a program for providing industrial infrastructure, financing, or public-private partnerships, and develop an artist-in-residence program in the public works departments.

The Create the Vision Implementation Task Force is a 14-member volunteer board that provides input and guidance to Centerville and Washington Township. They held their last meeting of the year for 2006, and have scaled back their meeting schedule for 2007. Over the past two years, members of this Task Force began meeting semimonthly, then monthly, then quarterly, and for next year will meet semiannually.

Create the Vision is being implemented in the following departments, Public Works, Planning, Development Services, Economic Development, Arts, and Recreation. City and Township department leaders are preparing their annual budgets for next year and are including more Create the Vision projects. These budgets go before the City Council and Township Trustees for approval in which you will continue to see progress of the plan’s implementation.

Most every community has an adopted comprehensive plan, but it is extremely rare for two bordering, competing communities to have a joint plan, such as Create the Vision. And where there have been challenges and disagreements in implementing this plan, there have been twice as many solutions and agreements. And that is the definition of a solid bridge – that which provides the connection between two communities.

To learn more about Create the Vision, visit our website at www.createthevision.org or keep apprised of upcoming Create the Vision meetings and other events in our community at www.cwtnet.org