Combining organizations and individuals of like minds
to strengthen everyone’s efforts in preserving
the unique qualities of Floyd County's
history, heritage, and natural environment.


If you or your organization share the vision and mission of Floyd Action Network, join us under our umbrella. Together, we can build our strength and achieve so much more than we could if we attempted to achieve our goals by ourselves. Go to our Members page to see who has already joined FAN.


OUR MISSION

Joining neighborhoods, environmental groups, and interested individuals under one umbrella. Undertaking projects that address land use issues, environmental stewardship, historic preservation, and the principles of Smart Growth.


By sharing knowledge and experience among all those who cherish our Floyd County home, Floyd Action Network commits to balancing our cultural and natural surroundings within a changing economy.

OUR VISION


Floyd Action Network (FAN) believes Floyd County can present itself as a model of far-sighted, progressive land use planning that preserves and protects open space, farmland, natural beauty, critical environmental areas, urban neighborhoods, and cultural heritage.

There's a lot more to say about FAN beyond our vision and our mission. And most of it is on this page. Please click on any of these topics to learn more:

Background of Floyd Action Network: Organizing
FAN bases its knowledge on experience
FAN's constituents
FAN's desired contributions
FAN takes on challenges
FAN distinguishes itself from other similar organizations
FAN endorses the principles of Smart Growth
The measure of FAN's success

BACKGROUND

Several years ago, members of the grass-roots organizations, Save Our Knobs (SOK), Greenville Concerned Citizens (GCC), and interested individuals, began meeting to establish an umbrella organization for community groups with similar missions, primarily in land-use planning. A steering committee was formed to work through the details for the organization we named "Floyd Action Network" or "FAN." The steering worked, with the help of a consultant, developed a strategic plan, drafted bylaws, and received the Certificate of Incorporation for Floyd Action Network, Inc.


Experiences with our own groups and others motivated the formation of FAN. Most often groups were formed around neighborhood issues -- usually in opposition to projects that were perceived as negatively affecting area residents' property and their quality of life. Once the threat was resolved, in one way or another, the group members fell away and often the group dissolved. SOK and GCC have survived, but keeping members interested when burning issues cool is a challenge. The steering committee believed an umbrella group would keep members involved because they would focus on issues that affected the wider community and could be proactive rather than reactive.


Often, we were contacted by newly formed groups. And we were able to share information that we had compiled to avoid "reinventing the wheel." But our communication was inconsistent and coordination among local citizen groups was lackluster.


Setting up avenues for communication among all our citizen groups is the first priority of FAN. Supporting attractive city neighborhoods can reduce development pressure on our rural forests and farms. And as the organization moves forward, FAN will evolve to meet new issues of our members.


Beginning with the organizational meeting in November, 2009, interested Floyd County residents have gathered for monthly meetings. Both city and county residents have voiced their dedication to preserving the unique qualities of Floyd County history, heritage, and natural environment. (back to the list)

EXCERPTS FROM OUR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

The leadership of FAN, representing established grass roots organizations offers long experience in advocating public issues on behalf of the community, especially the history, practices, and processes used by state and local governments and agencies. Both experienced and new FAN activists demonstrate passion by consistent, persistent, commitment to pursue issues and advocate positions that we believe are in the best interest of Floyd county.

The combined knowledge of FAN leadership shows understanding of:

  • The city and the county's comprehensive plans, zoning ordinances and the processes used to reach the status.
  • Relationships established with IDEM, state government, state legislators, county officials and agencies.
  • The knowledge and practice of the law related to public issues in the county.
  • Watch dogging meetings and actions of county officials and others as they relate to their knowledge of ordinances and the quasi-judicial process.
  • The decision-making process within agencies.
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    Floyd Action Network attempts to serve:

  • All citizens of Floyd County with special focus on citizens reacting to and facing changes in their quality of life, physical, cultural, and community environment, and financial status when influenced by these changes.
  • Organizations in Floyd County that share our vision and mission.
  • Elected and appointed officials who influence our vision and mission.
  • Future generations.
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    Floyd Action Network contributes by providing:

  • A collective voice for citizens on issues related to land use planning.
  • Education on the issues.
  • Ultimately, positive impact on the outcome of the issues.
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    Floyd Action Network increases the opportunity for sustaining the quality of life for our fellow citizens because FAN:

  • Helps to protect the right to self-determination within the law.
  • Offers accurate information on land use issues to all citizens.
  • Promotes a feeling of security in preserving the quality of rural life.
  • Attempts to increase awareness of issues that affect Floyd County citizens' way of life.
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    Floyd Action Network distinguishes itself from other similar organizations because:

  • FAN offers other organizations to affiliate under our umbrella of support.
  • FAN offers a broader range of influence among the county's decision makers.
  • FAN can influence an inclusive scope of concerns.
  • FAN exercises stewardship of the county's quality life style.
  • FAN avoids sectarian, partisan political affiliations.
  • A nonprofit organization populated with individuals who have established integrity in a variety of nonprofit organizations over the years.
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    FAN endorses and is guided by the following principles of Smart Growth:

  • Providing quality housing for people of all income levels is an integral component in any smart growth strategy.
  • Walkable communities are desirable places to live, work, learn, worship and play, and therefore a key component of smart growth.
  • Growth can create great places to live, work and play -- if it responds to a community's own sense of how and where it wants to grow.
  • Smart growth encourages communities to craft a vision and set standards for development and construction which respond to community values of architectural beauty and distinctiveness, as well as expanded choices in housing and transportation.
  • For a community to be successful in implementing smart growth, it must be embraced by the private sector.
  • Smart growth supports the integration of mixed land uses into communities as a critical component of achieving better places to live.
  • Open space preservation supports smart growth goals by bolstering local economies, preserving critical environmental areas, improving our community's quality of life, and guiding new growth into existing communities.
  • Providing people with more choices in housing, shopping, communities, and transportation is a key aim of smart growth.
  • Smart growth directs development towards existing communities already served by infrastructure, seeking to utilize the resources that existing neighborhoods offer, and conserve open space and irreplaceable natural resources on the urban fringe.
  • Smart growth provides a means for communities to incorporate more compact building design as an alternative to conventional, land consumptive development.
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    FAN successfully achieves its mission if:

  • The public interest in land use issues increases.
  • The public overwhelmingly confirms preservation of Floyd County's rural character while the economy grows.
  • FAN enjoys positive press coverage.
  • The public demonstrates indignation toward the county when it inappropriately handles land use issues.
  • Organizations with which FAN affiliates enjoys synergy.
  • FAN influences on behalf of the best interest of Floyd County the use of zoning ordinances.
  • FAN collaborates with the County's planning director when appropriate.
  • Voters willingly study land use issues and qualifications of candidates for county officials.
  • Voters demonstrate a trend toward voting for candidates whose issues have value to the voters rather than because of loyalty to individual candidates or their party.
  • Voters prefer candidates who represent appropriate economic growth and sustainability of the County's natural resources and rural character.
  • FAN ranks succession planning a high priority within the organization.
  • FAN maintains a broad base of membership.
  • FAN continuously fosters PASSION as opposed to apathy among its members and among the citizens of Floyd County.
  • FAN can counter the inability of elected officials to attend to their duties caused by their part-time status.
  • FAN can promote the necessity of officials communicating with their constituents and FAN members; thereby, creating "transparent information and process."
  • FAN raises funds and secures grants and other funding to carry out its programs.
  • A trend in specific descriptions and explanations of actions and processes among county officials and agencies.
  • The media reports actions of the County's issues accurately and objectively.
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