Norwood forming committee to look into town’s future

Published 3:42 pm Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Norwood Mayor Harold Thompson is working to establish a committee to look into ideas for the future of the town.

Though Norwood is a small community, “there’s still an awful lot of nuts and bolts that go into trying to maintain and improve what we have,” Thompson said.

Even as mayor, Thompson said he doesn’t have all the answers for what is best for the town. Establishing a committee of a broad spectrum of the public, he said, would be a good way to learn about different visions for the town’s future.

Thompson said he first thought about creating the committee when he put his name on the ballot to run for mayor last year.

He wants business leaders, senior citizens and South Stanly students to be involved on the committee.

The committee would give the members the ability “to dream” about what they would like to see the town become over the next decade, he said.

Thompson presented his proposal to the town council during last week’s meeting and it approved of the committee’s formation.

He said he has no perceived notions about what the committee will look like, what ideas will be discussed or if any actions would ever be taken. Thompson wants the opportunity to meet with people to come up with visions for the town’s future.

The committee would not have the power to put any of its ideas into motion without the approval of the council.

Thompson is looking for 12 to 15 people to be part of the committee.

He hopes to present the committee to the council by the end of the year and to start meeting in January.

About Chris Miller

Chris Miller has been with the SNAP since January 2019. He is a graduate of NC State and received his Master's in Journalism from the University of Maryland. He previously wrote for the Capital News Service in Annapolis, where many of his stories on immigration and culture were published in national papers via the AP wire.

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