POLAND – Local planners want to hear from townspeople about what they envision for the town’s future.

The Comprehensive Planning Committee will hold the first of three “community visioning” sessions at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at All Souls Chapel in the Maine State Building.

The committee is updating its 1991 plan with guidelines that look to the future, said Rosemary Roy, executive assistant to the town manager. The purpose of the sessions is to get opinions on what things are special about the town and what needs to be preserved.

“Poland has grown very quickly over the past 10 years – a new school, subdivisions going up all around us, ” Roy said. “Things are changing.”

Among the changes: The town is offering tax breaks to businesses in a special development district.

Town meeting voters in 2006 approved a “village district” tax-increment financing plan to develop the downtown.

The district is the first of its kind in the state, Roy said.

Two more planning sessions will take place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, in the Town Office conference room and at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Grange Hall.

Roy encourages all residents to attend.

“Come talk with your neighbors and help us shape the future Poland,” he said.

The sessions will be led by planners from the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments.