We were impressed to see and hear the residents who came out to the Idea Splash Saturday at Wedgewood Cove Golf Club.

Set up to gather input on how the city can best use a $20,000 grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, the event garnered many passionate people with many good ideas.

Residents had the opportunity to propose projects that could build on the existing infrastructure and assets of the community, with a specific focus on the downtown and Albert Lea and Fountain lakes.

When people were given the chance to share their ideas, about a dozen projects were presented. People could voice their ideas to the crowd one at a time, and then after hearing all of the proposals, those people started gathering support for their ideas from the other people in attendance. Some proposals combined, and toward the end, a project leader presented more-detailed goals for their project — until finally at the end, attendees could vote on which were their favorite.

The projects moving on from the Saturday event will be considered by a leadership team of community members in January, who will ultimately select the projects to receive grant funding.

We encourage the residents who came out to stay involved. Even if your project did not move on to the next round, it’s clear you are interested in the future of our community simply by the fact that you attended this event and were proactive in submitting an idea.

Many organizations and service groups are looking for more people like you.

The more we put our heads together to collaborate on projects like these, the better.