Chelan launches valley-wide visioning project

CHELAN — The City of Chelan announced Tuesday the launch of the Lake Chelan Vision Project, a community-driven initiative aimed at identifying core values and establishing a foundation for future planning efforts in the Lake Chelan Valley.

The project, the first of its kind in the area since 2006, will involve outreach to residents from Twenty-Five Mile Creek to South Shore, Chelan, Union Valley, and Manson. A bilingual community survey is now available in English at www.surveymonkey.com/r/LCVP and in Spanish at www.surveymonkey.com/r/LCVPSpan. Seven listening sessions will be scheduled in the coming weeks.

"The Lake Chelan Valley will continue to grow," said Chelan Mayor Erin McCardle. "We must take bold actions now to address the challenges as well as opportunities we are facing if we want to preserve the qualities of living in a small rural community."

Our Valley Our Future (OVOF), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, has been retained to conduct outreach and visioning activities, collect and analyze input from community members, and draft an initial set of core community values.

A project management team, consisting of local leaders and representatives, will oversee the initiative to ensure the integrity and validity of project outcomes.

To date, 21 local organizations are assisting the project, including the Lake Chelan Chamber of Commerce, Lake Chelan School District, and various community groups.

The City of Chelan sees this outreach and visioning work as an essential investment in community building, with the goal of creating a more cohesive, connected, and inclusive community.

The project will extend into the fall months, culminating with a Community Summit where residents can offer feedback on the initial findings. More information about the Lake Chelan Vision Project can be found on the OVOF website at https://ourvalleyourfuture.org/lake-chelan-vision-project/.