Members of a local small town are joining together in an effort to spruce up their community.

Some initial planning for area projects is underway in New Auburn. A number of New Auburn residents feel it's time to volunteer their time and supplies and do odd-jobs and projects around town.

They say their hope is to make the town even nicer to live in and attract more businesses and visitors.

With a population of just 562, New Auburn is a small town.

"I like it cause there's not a lot of traffic and people are friendly," long-time New Auburn resident Glenn Mattson said.

Some community members say it has potential to bring in more traffic, but it needs some sprucing up.

"Trying to get a group together and coordinate things that people would need help doing like painting a building or taking care of different areas that need to be taken care of," community member Dan North said.

This summer, a group got together and handed out surveys, asking for people's opinions of the area.

"We had them rate the quality of sidewalks, parking lots, businesses, residential areas, you know, on a scale of 1-5 if they were good or poor conditions and then we also asked for comments," organizer Jill Petska said.

Now ideas are flowing as the group works to get more projects, more supplies and more volunteers.

"We've had contact with the school to see if we can get some kids involved, and the art department to probably come up with a building that will allow us to paint it and put a mural on it," North said.

"The more people the better. We'd be able to accomplish more things," Petska added.

Freshening up community members say they're anxious to get started on.

"I think it's just an overall better feeling if everything's cleaned up,” New Auburn business owner Dan Friedeck said.

Organizers say 25 to 30 people showed up at a meeting they held regarding community projects. They say all of the work they do will be volunteer and work supplies will need to be donated.

If you're interested in helping around the community you can contact Citizen's Telephone Cooperative in New Auburn at (715) 237-2605.