Business View Civil & Municipal Apr-2023

121 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 4 our small town feel, engaging our residents in decision making and also meeting other residents through events, a variety of commissions, and boards. We’re creating that small town feel and making it warm and comforting to live here.” Decisions made in Montgomery aren’t just done by elected officials. Montgomery council welcomes and encourages input from its residents, ensuring that every choice is truly a community-minded one. “We make plenty of opportunities for the residents to engage in the decision-making,” Margolis says. “We pride ourselves on that. If we are creating the project, we hold several open houses, hear the people out, listen, and get feedback. A lot of the time, we even modify what we intend to do to accommodate the greatest population of residents.” The city is diligent when it comes to planning for its future. Every five years they develop a new five-year strategic plan to help guide decision-making into the future. MONTGOMERY, OHIO “It provides a roadmap for us to follow and focus on,” says Montgomery city manager Brian Riblet. “We are very diligent about planning and foresight, thinking about what we want and what would be best for the community.” One of the city’s biggest projects that was planned with the community in mind is the new Montgomery Quarter. The $200-million mixed- use development has been in the works for over a decade and a half and has finally come to fruition. It started with the city purchasing 21 acres of land that were the site of two former car dealerships. “Our city council created a vision for this site and it all started with purchasing the property so we could control the vision,” Riblet says. “It’s something both Tracy (Henao, assistant city manager) and I have been working on for about the past 15 years with staff members trying to make this dream a reality and we’re getting very close.” Phase one is already underway, with the rest of the development project to be completed over the next three years. Located at the Brian Riblet Craig Margolis