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MEEKER -- Skip cooking Monday night and join your neighbors for a picnic at Town Park.

Not only is the food free, but the picnic will be an opportunity to meet representatives of Great Outdoors Colorado, Scenic Byways and the Colorado Department of Transportation to share ideas for how to move forward on a comprehensive plan for town land at the west entrance of Meeker.

Sally Pearce of Scenic Byways, Aimee Westley of Great Outdoors Colorado and Rich Perske or a representative of CDOT will be present from 5 to 6:30 p.m. for hamburgers, hot dogs and all the fixings, and to share ideas and information about projects the community envisions for the future.

Sharon Day, town administrator, said it was a chance to pitch ideas to the agencies likely to become part of the funding source for future building on the site.

"Local government is one place where you can still be heard, and we need the input," Day said.

Day said the trustees and town staff hope state officials will reveal how to maximize grant dollars.

The Western Slope receives about 14 percent of all the Great Outdoors Colorado grant funding but most of that has gone to Steamboat Springs and Grand Junction, Day said.

The town purchased 119 acres in 2000 and received a grant to hire a consultant to present ideas on how to best use the area.

The plan was approved in 2002. The land is now used for the Meeker Classic Sheep Dog trials and is leased to rancher David Smith.

The plan includes a building that will house the Chamber of Commerce and will be used as an information center, an outdoor amphitheater and picnic area.

Public bathrooms with 24-hour access also are planned.

Long-range plans include walking and bike trails that connect with Bureau of Land Management land to the north.

Sally Pearce also will do a presentation on how to market the Scenic Byway (County Road 8) more effectively at 7 p.m.

The meeting will be at Meeker Town Hall.

"Everyone is invited to come listen after the picnic," Day said.

For more information, call Town Hall at 878-5344 or go to the town's Web site at www.townofmeeker.org.

Lois Wymore can be reached at 824-7031.