ESCANABA — The Delta County Planning Commission heard from Delta County Administrator Philip Strom and CUPPAD Executive Director Dotty LaJoye about the possibility of updating the county’s master plan during its regular meeting Monday.

While he was getting ready to enter his current position, Strom discussed the county’s master plan with former county administrator Ryan Bergman. The current version of the plan dates back to 1996.

According to Strom, updating the county’s master plan would not be a simple or inexpensive process.

“These are undertakings that take a great deal of time, a great deal of work, and cost some money to do, as well,” he said.

Strom said he believes he will be able to procure some county funding for this work, but that he would need to know the planning commission will be involved with these efforts before doing so.

“I’m confident that I can find the money in the county budget, with the support of the county board of commissioners … but I really need the commitment from the zoning board, because most of the legwork is going to have to come from the zoning board with additional input and influence from the community,” he said. Strom is hoping to play a role in writing grant applications for the project, as well.

Having an updated master plan will be extremely important for Delta County’s future, Strom said.

“I don’t think the county can afford not to do this,” he said.

In addition to its significance for the county, Strom said an updated master plan could be a boon for the planning commission itself.

“I sense that some of the difficult decisions that were made in the past could have been easier — not painless, but easier — had we had an up-to-date … master plan,” he said.

LaJoye said a prerequisite for updating the county’s master plan is to ensure the planning commission is following state guidelines.

“I really would like to get the planning commission … re-organized under the Michigan Planning Enabling Act of 2008,” she said.

She also noted that CUPPAD could help guide the county through the process of updating its master plan, along with other agencies.

“When there are very large master plan projects, we often partner with other planning agencies outside of the area,” LaJoye said.

Strom said that, early in this process, either a request for proposal or a request for qualifications could be sent out to help the county find partners they could work with on this project and to develop more accurate estimates of the time and costs that would be associated with these partners’ services.

While there is still a great deal of work to do on the project, Strom said Monday’s meeting — and the support voiced by the planning commission for these efforts during the meeting — marked an important step in the process of updating Delta County’s master plan.

“We’re not (going to) start running towards it today, but (we’re) walking towards it,” he said.

In other business, the commission:

– received an update from Strom on a legal case they are involved with. A group of Garden Peninsula property owners is appealing the commission’s decision to allow Heritage Sustainable Energy to expand its wind farm on the peninsula.

Strom said a hearing date for the case has been set for this July, and that two additional attorneys representing the case’s appellants have become involved. The commission voted in favor of hiring local legal counsel to assist in the litigation process for this case.

– voted to table a request to change the zoning of a Garden Township parcel from agricultural production to rural residential until its July meeting.

– voted in favor of changing its regular meeting time to 5:30 p.m.