(KAIR)--Atchison city leaders gathered in the conference room of Jerry's Again restaurant Monday evening for a goal planning workshop.

The meeting brought together City Commissioners, members of the media, and city department heads to brainstorm new ideas for the city.

City Manager Trey Cocking opened the meeting by giving an overview of what had been accomplished in the past year, and explained that this year's session would focus on economic development, retail, and demolition, as well as city streets, parks, and sewer systems. Participants were divided into smaller groups to discuss each issue, before coming together and sharing their ideas with the larger group.

City Community Development Director Stephanie Leif, who lead the economic development session, says the city has done over fifty demolitions in the past three years, and she was looking for ideas on what could be done with land once a demolition has taken place. She says they have gotten to the point where they have taken down the worse homes, but need to know what could be done with those homes that do not qualify for demolition, but still need fixed. Some possibilities include helping a homeowner rebuild their home, or perhaps offering incentives for someone to invest in their home.

Public Works Director Justin Pregont headed the second session on streets, parks, and sewer improvements, and he says there were a few questions he was looking to have answered. Some of these questions were concerned with thoughts on the conditions of city streets and sidewalks, while others dealt with concerns about city sewer systems and what could be done with them to better serve city residents.  He says there is enough demand, and people are not satisfied with the current conditions. However,he says the city needs to come up with a way to finance these improvements.

Pregont adds that he got a lot of good feedback from the session. He says he can use this information to build a foundation for programs that could potentially improve city streets and sidewalks.