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We have now wrapped up May with some amazing activities happening, and summer is officially here. I know that it has been a long month for so many as we all raced to the finish line to end the school year, and we can now take a deep breath.

I want to first say congratulations to all of the recent graduates. You each have many accomplishments in the arts, on the field and court, but most importantly, in the classroom. No matter what your next step may be, you will be starting a new chapter of your book—a new chapter that will continue shaping the person that you are and will be. Again, congratulations on your achievement and thank you for representing Helena in the way that you do.

We, the administration and City Council members, have strong plans on how to best move the city forward, and we have multiple projects in flight to assist.

The city has been in constant communication with the development of the new City of Helena Comprehensive Plan (One Connected Community). I encourage you to be involved with it as well. We need to hear your opinions and ideas on how we can best move Helena forward in years to come.

So far, hundreds have come to the multiple public community open houses, thousands of residents have completed the online survey and we will finish it up with the request of public comments online of the draft report.

The report should be finalized toward the end of August. The yearlong study and plan development have been intensive and extensive to make our Helena the best it can be.

Running in parallel with the One Connected Community comprehensive plan is the design process that is being provided to us by DesignAlabama. This group of four designers, branding firm (that works with many municipalities), engineers and leadership team are the best in the state.

For the last three months, they have been gaining the knowledge of Helena and what we want to focus on in regards to design aesthetic around the city. The firms that have come on board to help DesignAlabama and us would typically cost hundreds of thousands, but due to DesignAlabama coordinating this project, they are coving all of the cost except $7,500.

The in-person workshop with the designers will be July 21-23  This is another way for the community to be directly involved with shaping Helena. Not only will residents be able to pop in and out throughout each day while the designers are in town, but there will also be two open houses to provide feedback.

Finally, I encourage you to subscribe to the official city weekly email updates at Eepurl.com/gfVLJP. Each weekly email includes an update from me on what is all happening in Helena and a few great articles highlighting the amazing people and awesome things happening in our town.

As always, I am humbled and honored to serve every resident in Helena each day.  I can assure you that your Council members and city staff are, as well, doing everything to best serve you. I look forward to the next update of projects and happenings in Helena in the weekly emails.

Together As One,

Brian