Tonight’s 2050 Plan public hearing will have a format far different than the previous three hearings on the 200-page plan.

Hunter Hall, president of the Newton County Chamber of Commerce and the plan’s lead presenter at all previous public hearings, said tonight’s meeting will begin in Eastside High School’s auditorium at 6:30 p.m. with a brief overview of the format changes. After that, attendees will be asked to decide which of three breakout groups they’d like to be part of. Attendees can come and go from each session as they please, Hall said.

The first group will stick to the original focus of the public hearings – educating residents about the basics of the plan. Hall said the idea of five scattered hearings was to make sure “everyone was able to hear the same things,” and that hasn’t changed. Hall will lead tonight’s basic discussion and question-and-answer session about the plan.

The second breakout group will consist of elected officials and consulting team members in a separate room, each at separate tables to discuss specific issues. The idea is to give residents an opportunity for “small group, one-on-one q-and-a.”

The third group will consist of people with “solutions,” Hall said. Residents who have attended previous public sessions and “want to bring solutions to areas where they have concerns” should plan to attend, Hall said.