La Villa city leaders are looking for residents to join a new committee focused on the city's long-term growth.

The city council voted this week to create a comprehensive plan committee. The group will include five to nine members who will help plan the city's development over the next 10 to 20 years.

Members can include council members, police officers, school employees, and community members.

"Hopefully it will stimulate interest in participating in not only this plan but other events or plans we might have in the future," La Villa City Administrator Tony Barco said.

The goal is to get more people thinking about the future of the city, Barco added.

Council members will appoint people to the committee within the next 30 days. Committee members are expected to meet once a month and complete the plan within a year.

"There's different phases of the plan... so we should have a meeting for each one of those activities we plan to undertake," Barco said.

La Villa resident Rudy Ochoa said he believes the committee is a great idea as he wants city leaders to find ways to keep the community growing and prevent it from becoming a ghost town.

Ochoa said city leaders need to reach people where they are instead of only relying on city council meetings.

"I think that our elected officials need to be sensitive, they should come to the people and try to get them involved," Ochoa said.

Community members interested in joining can contact the city either online or by calling 956-262-2122.

Once the committee finishes the long-term plan, it’ll be presented to the La Villa city council.

The city has already secured $300,000 from the Texas General Land Office to use for research and studies for the finalized comprehensive plan.

Watch the video above for the full story.