ROGERS — If the four companies vying Monday for the job of developing a downtown plan had one thing in common it was getting the public involved in the process.
Out of 13 candidates Gateway Planning, Dallas; Bennett Benner Pettit, Fort Worth; Development Strategies, St. Louis; and Jacobs, HR&A, along with Crafton Tull, Dallas, were selected as possible candidates for the project.
The Jacobs company was the first company to meet with the committee made up select city employees and a Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce official. Mark Bowers, project manager, said he thought the meeting went well.
“We have a strong belief that we need to get the public involved in the planning project early on. They often have a lot of good ideas that would be beneficial to the planning process,” Bowers said.
“Each city is different with its own personality, and there are cultural issues that may need to be included. We have the techniques to design the plan, but we need involve residents in the process,” he added.
Scott Polikov, president of Gateway Planning, also said residents need to be involved in the planning process from the very beginning.
“We want to develop an economic and design plan that will continue to work after we’re gone. We want stakeholders to feel comfortable with the outcome,” Polikov said.
The first step will be to talk to residents in small groups to gather information on Rogers and what residents want in the way of a plan, he added.
At A Glance
The Committee
A select committee of city employees and a Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce official spent about seven hours Monday interviewing four companies that made the cut to develop a master plan for Rogers downtown.
Committee members included: David Hook, facility development manager; Lance Jobe, city engineer; Derrel Smith, senior planner; Raymond Burns, president and chief executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce; Steve Glass, director of planning and transportation; Greg Hines, mayor; Nathan Beckwell, project planner; Mark Kruger, alderman; and Kelsey Kreaher, planning department.
Source: Staff Report
“We want to design a plan that works for Rogers, not for our company,” Polikov said.
Matthew Wetli, an associate with Development Strategies, said he and the members of the firm have a passion for what they do.
“This is a great time to be a planner,” Wetli said. “We have an opportunity to make a difference. Rogers downtown is unique. We want to help identify what is different and how it can be used to keep the city unique, but part of the the future.”
Bob Lewis, president of the company, added the team would engage residents.
“We want this to be Rogers’ plan not our plan” Lewis said.
Lewis said his company would share information with the public and be transparent in the development of the project.
“We have already collected some information on Rogers,” said Michael Bennett, president of Bennett Benner Pettit.
His company did some work for Bentonville and also spent some time in Rogers.
“We want collect as much information as possible so we have a good idea of what works and doesn’t work in Rogers,” Bennett said.
City planners have a passion to see the plan developed, Bennett said.
“We have a passion to do the work. Nobody knows Rogers better than the people who live here. We plan to work with the residents, to get people involved so when the project is finished there will be some excitement about a new downtown,” he added.
At the conclusion of the presentations, Greg Hines, mayor, said he was pleased with the four finalists.
“They all made good presentations. These are some of the top firms doing this type of work. It’s going to be difficult to make a decision,” Hines said.
The decision might be difficult, but Hines said he hopes the committee can select one of the companies by the end of the week.
“I hope to be able to announce the city’s choice late this week or early this week so we can begin negotiating a contract. I would like for this project to begin as early as possible next year,” Hines said.