Voting Open for Jasper in ‘Elite 8’ of Strong Towns Contest

By Kris Norton

Jasper – Voting in the ‘Elite 8’ round of the annual Strong Towns Contest opens online on Monday.

The campaign begun when Mark Nowotarski, of Jasper, listened to a new podcast which he found through his involvement with the Congress of New Urbanism.

The podcast featured Urban Panner and Author Chuck Marrone, whom coincidentally created the Strong Towns initiative, says Nowotarski.

“Strong Towns is a non-profit organization founded by Chuck Marrone, who [is a] professional engineer and land use planner,” Nowotarski says. “He’s build this organization to focus on strengthening towns and cities through their design and through their smart investments.”

Through Jasper’s nomination, the city not only made the initial field of 16, but defeated Brighton, Michigan, in the first round.

In between rounds, the organization asked for additional information about the city. Nowotarski Mark Nowotarski, Nancy Eckerle, Kate Schwenk, Darla Blazey, Whitney Lubbers, Lisa Bower, and Mayor Dean Vonderheide joined to put together the best of Jasper, says Nowotarski.

“I refined it down to – it’s about investing smart within your community and doing the things that are going to support the community and grow the community as a better place to live,” Nowotarski said.

“I gave the examples of the River Walk that was put in, the whole River Centre area, the Library and Art Culture Center, the transformation of the golf course into the Parklands,” Nowotarski said. “All solid investments that benefit the community, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Ballots can be cast online at www.strongtowns.org/stmedia . The voting period will be closed at 12:00 p.m. CST on Thursday, March 17^th.