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, have a budget for this plan. Ms. Wenger said they met with the county and are hopeful it will be a successful application. She has looked at what the county suggested as a work program and she has some ideas for ways it can be improved and tailored more to this community. She has her own proposed worlc prograin that once the application process is complete, she will be able to provide copies to the board. It is not set in stone but is something she wanted to enhance by adding public participation, open space, recreation, housing, and economic developinent, which are all important components of the master plan. She believes a master plan is beyond zoning. They need to take a holistic look at the community. She said she looks forward to working with the commission on the master plan process. She added that board members will be fundamental members of the steering committee that will guide that process along. She hopes to go through a review process since many members have served either on the Planning Commission or in some capacity with the city for a long time. She wants to tap their knowledge of what has gone on in North Olmsted since the original master plan was developed. They can determine what has been, what hasn't been done, and what needs to be done. She hopes to be an asset to the board as they are an asset to her. Mr. Yager asked Ms. Wenger what she sees as the city's greatest strengths and the largest issues to contend with. Ms. Wenger said she believes one of the greatest strength is the location in the region. She said North Olmsted is known to be a commercial retail center. She said being located along a major interstate highway and being adjacent to a major metropolitan area is a great strength. Cleveland is a community that really has a lot of amenities, cultural amenities that many cities of similar size do not have. There are educational amenities, and it is an attractive area for people to live, work, visit, and remain. Obviously there is not a lot of room for continued development. The challenges are redevelopment as the city is faced with an aging housing stock, infrastructure, and they have to look at redeveloping aging commercial centers more than green field development. They also need to ensure that any development that happens in the future on the remaining land is high quality and meets city standards. There are opportunities that go along with redevelopment and opportunities to improve regulatory processes. There are opportunities through the master plan to identify more assets of the city and really build upon those, and build upon regional relationships. They can continue to work with the county and surrounding communities to create more of a regional strategy of growth and redevelopment. She is committed to working with our neighbors and the county to tap into those hidden opportunities that they have not been able to see before. Mrs. Hoff-Smith asked what Ms. Wenger sees as the time line for the master plan and what steps will be involved. Ms. Wenger said this is rather tricky because the charter does dictate the plan has to be completed in June 2004, and at the same time, they are asking the county for funds to support the process. Those funds will really not be made available until March 2004. Some of the activities that we would undertake early are things they may need money for. One thing they can do up front is a lot of data gathering. She believes in any planning process it is important to gather data up front and that is not just the physical, or demographic data, it is public input, and input from the business community, and the administration. They need to go through a visioning and goals setting process. They need to review the goals from the 1992 plan to see if they are still viable goals. That can all be done up front. She said that after the data is gathered they can proceed with developing the different plan elements, such as land use, economic development, infrastructure, open space and reereation. It would be based on that combination of visioning and hard data. Following the development of the land use plan and all the other elements that were mentioned, a strategy needs to be established as to how it will all be accomplished. It would include who is responsible for implementing which of the recommendations and in what time frame. A sense of responsibility is assigned to an individual or organization to see that things are done. A review process is also established so the plan is updated regularly. The master plan is to be a viable document and not just a bookend. Ms. Wenger said she wants to stay within the time frame that is set forth in the charter but also wants to ensure this is a quality document and not rushed. They will have more discussions on that issue. Mrs. Hoff-Smith asked when the first public meeting would likely happen, or a steering committee meeting. Ms. Wenger said she would like something immediately. Within the next week or so they will have to put together a steering committee and she would recommend having a steering committee of approximately 15-20 individuals. If you get a smaller group, there are times when 2