Brown County commissioners press for more community engagement in comprehensive plan update

Tim Martin, who opened the meeting, called the session to order and led a review of the county's draft comprehensive plan and outreach materials. He said the county began the update in 2024 and sought grant funding but found the LMI rate used for eligibility calculations insufficient. "The LMI came out with 40.4%. You needed 53.1% to qualify," Martin said, explaining why the county could not secure a $60,000 OPRA loan and turned instead to other grant options.

Commissioners agreed the draft largely met statutory requirements but that the document should better reflect local differences across townships and include clearer, public-facing zoning information. Martin proposed piloting a prototype community meeting in a single township as a proof of concept to validate the plan's assumptions, saying officials should "talk, communicate, come back" and use those sessions to ensure the plan reflects residents' priorities. The board asked staff to obtain a proposal from the consulting firm REA to test a prototype module and to return with clear options for next steps.

The meeting also flagged balancing the county's tourism-driven marketing with the needs of small-business owners, farmers and other residents: participants noted the draft emphasizes tourism and Nashville-area connections and suggested adding language and examples for agriculture, forestry and local services. The commission agreed to pursue additional outreach, refine the draft based on validated input and reconvene with a short list of specific revisions.