Keysville residents will have the opportunity to make their voices heard about the future of the town during a community meeting focusing on the town revamping its comprehensive plan.

The town is working with the Commonwealth Regional Council (CRC) to issue a comprehensive plan for the town.

The meeting is set to be held Thursday, 7 p.m. at the Keysville Volunteer Fire Department building at 500 Osborne St.

The comprehensive plan was last amended in January 1995, CRC Executive Director Melody Fortune said in a memorandum provided in the August CRC meeting board packet.

A comprehensive plan offers the town a vision for its future, and provides a set of guidelines that can help the area reach its goals.

Keysville Town Council member Sarah Critzer said the meeting is expected to facilitate discussions about the strengths of the town, and what could be done to improve it.

“In creating a comprehensive plan, community input is essential,” Critzer said. “The meeting scheduled for Thursday night is meant to give Keysville residents an opportunity to meet with one another to discuss their vision of what Keysville is and what it could be.”

Critzer said there will be small group discussions during the meeting, which could help those who are nervous about public speaking more comfortable about sharing their thoughts and ideas.

“This is a fabulous opportunity for the citizens to come out and get their voices heard by a group of people in a position to create a document that will guide the Town Council’s decisions for the five years following the adoption of this document,” Critzer said. “I would like to think that for people who live here and care about this community that would be reason enough to come.”

“Part of the comprehensive plan deals with history, demographics, current land use and data like that,” Critzer said about the comprehensive plan. “The real meat of the comp plan is the guide it gives the Town Council for policymaking and other decisions. Thursday night, they will likely be discussing the things they like about the town, as well as things they believe need to be improved.”

Critzer said for those who cannot attend the Thursday meeting, they have the opportunity to submit their comments to the Keysville Town Office to be delivered to the Comprehensive Plan Committee.

The town office can be reached at 120 J St. in Keysville, via email at keysville@kinex.net or (434) 736-9551.

“This is an initial ‘This is what we are doing, this is why, and what do you think about these things?’ kind of meeting,” Critzer said about the Thursday community meeting.