Task force will educate public on community needs

MEEKER — A second meeting to discuss the needs of the community was held April 2 and a decision was made to form a task force.
“We need to reach out to the community, get the banks and other community leaders involved,” Rio Blanco County Commissioner Joe Collins said. “We need more than elected officials involved.”
Margie Joy facilitated the meeting and reviewed the questionnaires completed after the first meeting, saying the “results were positive.”
Local taxing districts, along with the town of Meeker and Rio Blanco County were surveyed in December 2007, results showed several entities have capital improvement projects in the near future.
An invitation to civic, finance and business groups, along with one representative from each of the special districts, school, town and county will form the task force. The task force will recommend priorities, discuss revenue options and communicate with the community.
“We need the task force to help educate the community,” Mary Strang, president of the school district said. The school district completed a facilities assessment in 2007 and is currently surveying the community, in preparation of a ballot question, asking voters to approve a bond to build a new elementary school, along with needed renovations at the high school and middle school.
“We need to dive into the pride of the Meeker people and get them motivated to build some new things,” local businessman and town trustee Chuck Mills said. “If we get the people of Meeker excited, they’ll make some things happen.”
The timeline for the task force will be to hold an initial meeting by the end of April and make a preliminary report to the community by the end of August.