By Tim SchmidtRecord Managing EditorWarrenton residents are invited to participate in the first public workshop this week to discuss the city’s future.The meeting is part of the ongoing process to update the city’s comprehensive plan.The workshop will be held this Thursday, June 25, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Warrenton High School, with the presentation starting at 5:30 p.m. The first 100 attendees will receive a water bottle.A comprehensive plan is a tool used to set community goals and to handle future growth and development. It will cover areas such as land use, character, transportation, neighborhoods, parks and trails, infrastructure and implementation.City officials are encouraging residents to attend and provide their opinion.“We want input,” Mayor Eric Schleuter said. “We want to hear all sides. What I would like to see is the public’s opinion on issues that we can move on and plan. We want to get their input.”Thursday’s meeting will include a presentation and hands-on exercises to start discussing important issues facing Warrenton in planning its future, officials said.The process to update the comprehensive plan started earlier this year with several meetings held with key stakeholders in the community and members of the planning advisory committee.The public workshop is the first of three that are planned to be held this year during the project. No other dates have been set.The city’s current comprehensive plan is 15 years old. Since then, the city’s population rose 48 percent from 1990 to 2000 and grew another 40 percent from 2000 to 2008, officials said. The current population is estimated to be 7,880.Officials are expecting more growth in the future.“Let’s get back on track where people want to come out here, build and grow,” Schleuter said. “We want to be progressive with the town growing, but we don’t want it to blow up. Like any town, you want to put structured growth in place without limiting what comes. To me that is what a comprehensive plan is.”The comprehensive plan is being developed by Kansas City-based Vireo for $90,000.Meeting scheduled