The Governor’s Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewalwill host a town hall meeting for residents of Lincoln, Copiah andHinds counties in the Brookhaven High School Auditorium Monday at 7p.m.

The meeting will offer citizens an opportunity to provide inputand ideas on rebuilding and recovery efforts after HurricaneKatrina.

“We’ve been having them all over the state, but especially onthe coast and other areas that were damaged,” said Will Longwitz,the commission’s communications director.

The Governor’s Commission was formed shortly after HurricaneKatrina by Gov. Haley Barbour to develop a broad vision for abetter South Mississippi. The commission is focused on giving localleaders access to ideas and information that will help them decidewhat their region will look like in the future.

The number of people attending past town hall meetings acrossthe state has been surprising, Longwitz said. The smallestgathering was in Meridian, which received only light damage. Itdrew about 50 people.

“The quality of the conversation has been good regardless of thesize of the turnout,” he said. “We hope to guide conversations butlet people talk about what they want or need to in preparing forthe next storm.”

Although the commission is primarily focused on the future, somecitizens have requested some immediate information regardinginsurance or questions about the Federal Emergency ManagementAgency.

A representative that can speak on those matters will be presentMonday, but Longwitz said that “most of those attending haveunderstood that the Governor’s Commission is about the longterm.”

The commission has received good feedback in previous meetingsand Longwitz said he expects the same Monday. The focus of mostinland counties has seemed to be on timber, failed sewage systems,evacuation routes needing better management and coordination amongresponders, he said.

Information gathered during the town hall meetings will becompiled for a report to the governor on Dec. 31. Longwitz saidthey hope to complete the initial report by mid-December.

In addition, he said, “there will be a report compiled of eachmeeting so that every region of the state will have its own issuesfeatured.”

Reports on agriculture, tourism and education are alreadydrafted, he said. Additional information from other meetings willbe added as it is gathered.

Once Barbour has reviewed the report, it will be released to thepublic, Longwitz said.

“We don’t expect any major legislative changes resultingimmediately from this,” he said.

Instead, Longwitz said, the reports serve as guidelines forcities to refer to in the months and years ahead to prepare for andrespond to future disasters.

For those unable to attend Monday’s meeting, Longwitz saidcomments can be submitted on the commission’s Web site atwww.governorscommission.com for inclusion in the report.