Hillsboro not just looking to future, but planning for it
Staff writer
Hillsboro City Council spent three hours Tuesday continuing to develop and monitor its three-year plan to address city needs.
The city’s very public quarterly planning meetings, unique among county cities, address goals and update the plan with any specific progress that is made.
First-tier goals coming into the meeting were child care, housing, and workplace development.
Second-tier goals were community development, financial stability, and public safety.
“I’m very pleased at the turnout we have tonight,” Mayor Lou Thurston said.
Fourteen people attended the meeting. The crowd included representatives from Tabor College, USD 410, Hillsboro Community Hospital, and journalists.
Strategic planning meetings began in 2020.
“We had kind of a smaller, more intimate group,” Administrator Matt Stiles said.
Meetings will continue every four to six weeks until a complete plan is developed. A community-wide meeting also is planned.
“I don’t know if you know this, but you’ve committed to at least two meetings with us,” Stiles said. “We’ll make sure not to schedule them on KU nights.” (KU played basketball while the group met Tuesday night.)
Many goals set during strategic planning meetings have been achieved. Among them were the city earning a bond rating upgrade and the county building an ambulance station in Hillsboro.
Projects underway include a child care center, new housing, a $10 million to $12-million “business entrepreneurship building” at Tabor, and a new fire station, expected to cost $6 million.
Colin Hansen, CEO of Kansas Power Pool, led the second half of the meeting. He discussed the city’s vision statement and values.
“I’ve never done this before, so please take it easy on me,” he joked.
Hansen asked what the group would like to see changed from the city’s current vision statement, which says Hillsboro is “a prairie home of people, places, and progress.” He suggested the city write a mission statement, which could be posted online. The group also discussed Hillsboro’s identity and how it should be expressed in town.
“I want Hillsboro to be a college town and not a town with a college,” Thurston said.
“Hillsboro is the home of the Mennonite Brethren,” David Janzen, president of Tabor, said. “Do we embrace that? Do we market that as who we are?”
Janzen added that Hillsboro didn’t celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Mennonites arriving this August.
“I think we’re almost embarrassed about it,” he said.
The group analyzed and tweaked previous civic goals. With the child care center almost built, child care likely will drop from a first to a second-tier goal.
Community development likely will take its place, as Hillsboro looks to become a better retirement destination and college town.