Villa Rica has scheduled a series of public input meetings through April to get comments from residents and to gauge their interest in a variety of topics.

City leaders are especially interested in getting public input on two current projects, a proposed Master Plan for the Parks and Recreation Department, and the city’s ongoing branding initiative.

Although public input for city projects is often sought, city staffers have previously seen that only a few civic-minded residents participate. These new public input meetings have been planned to attract a much more diverse audience, drawing on residents from across the city.

The schedule for the public input meetings is as follows:

• March 21 from 5-8 p.m. at the VPLEX, 1605 Carrollton-Villa Rica Highway. 
• March 28, 6-8 p.m. at Gold Dust Park, 646 Industrial Blvd.
• April 13, noon-5 p.m. at Powell Park, 524 Leslie Drive
• April 18, 5-7 p.m., at Mirror Lake Elementary School, 2613 Tyson Road
• April 27, 3-7 p.m. at the Villa Rica Public Library, 869 Dallas Highway

The full list of issues the public will be invited to comment upon is still being developed, but the meetings are an attempt to provide more members of the public a chance to give more feedback on the issues facing the city.

During the sessions, residents will enter the venue and be handed play money, then invited to visit tables scattered through the room. City staffers will be at each station, ready to discuss and provide information on the issues being discussed. Residents can then comment on the matter and “spend” their play money, paying an amount that represents their interest in the topic and how much they feel the city should invest in the project.

Two of the projects currently scheduled for the meetings is a master plan for the city’s recreation department and the city’s branding initiative.

In the last city budget, council approved a master plan study that will involve architects, engineers and other planners mapping the future of the recreation department. This first-ever project of its type will look at rec department programs and facilities so that the city may better serve the community. 

The city’s branding initiative is aimed at creating an identity for the city that can be used for marketing, tourism, and other purposes. Residents will be asked to take a survey and provide the same type of information as is currently being gathered from focus groups of other citizens.