No substitute for planning

We've long advocated that government should be run like a business. That requires a business plan.

The public-sector equivalent is a municipality's comprehensive plan, which establishes local standards with an eye toward future needs. When compiled with the proper dose of public input, these local blueprints establish community goals and priorities - covering everything from land-use issues to existing public services and pending needs.

An Irwin resident's request for such a plan and a borough councilman's push for one have merit, considering that Irwin's last comprehensive plan was drafted back in the '50s. Apart from the myriad changes that have occurred in the borough since then is the need for Irwin to establish a course for the future.

'We should have a plan to where we are going,' says Councilman Don Huffman. We agree. But last fall, council rejected his motion for the borough to begin that process.

We've heard the arguments against comprehensive plans - that they bind communities to newfangled laws and regulations that further impinge on residents' freedoms, particularly with regard to land use.

But that needn't be the case. Irwin's leaders and residents could make their plan as wide-ranging or as limited as they see fit.

At the very least, Irwin's officials should be willing to dust off their existing plan and identify those areas that need to be updated.