MASTER PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE

Meeting

Monday, October 7, 2002

Belmont Town Hall

Present:         Steering Committee Chrm L. Frawley, Planning Board Chrm P. Harris, Members Judy Pilliod, Nancy McCurry, J. Marden, W. Brunkhardt, D. McLelland Sr., G. Bartlett, D. Harper, R. Ashbaugh; Subcommittee Members S. Condodemetraky, G. Condodemetraky, K. Knowlton; Staff C. Daigle.

Chrm. Harris opened the meeting at 6:30pm.  C. Daigle handed out an 4^th draft dated October 7^th containing chapters that had been changed since the last draft and a list of maps being considered for inclusion.  She noted that several members have submitted their comments, suggestions and corrections which have been included in the new draft.  S. Condodemetraky noted that recent changes to the Land Use chapter were also ready to be published.  She briefly reviewed those additional strategies.  Chrm. Frawley thanked everyone for their efforts at the June community meeting.  She noted it made sense to get back together to work on the vision statement tonight.

A significant portion of the meeting was spent discussing formatting, what seemed to work and what didn’t and how to increase readability of the document.  Discussion and suggestions included:

·        reducing the distraction of titles in the Goals/Objectives/Strategies sections,

·        changing the order of chapters,

·        returning to the title “Conservation and Preservation” versus “Natural, Cultural and Historic Resources” – or separating “Conservation and Preservation” from “Natural, Cultural and Historic Resources”,

·        whether Foreword and Welcome sections were needed,

·        pages should be tabbed,

·        whether new legislation regarding master plans should be considered,

·        whether to create a summary document for distribution upon adoption of the plan,

·        whether a separate Goals section is helpful or confusing,

·        whether the format of Goals/Objectives/Strategies is archaic, confining and confusing and should be eliminated,

·        whether the Goals/Objectives/Strategies numbering system should be changed/eliminated,

·        whether the entire document should be re-edited,

·        whether the document is an acceptable reflection on the community

·        whether there are areas of duplication.

            Members also discussed:

·        whether additional time was needed to finalize edits of the eight substantive chapters,

·        whether it was appropriate or not to include Chapter references for the additional chapters that will be completed in the future,

·        whether it was appropriate to prioritize strategies by the development of an implementation matrix,

·        whether the master plan document really needs to serve two reading audiences – in a concise, easily read format for the general public and in a more technically complete and correct format for use by the Planning Board, developers and the courts,

·        The fact that all of the eight substantive chapters were written by volunteer subcommittees and that to essentially rewrite those chapters would be to defeat those efforts and the intent to have a plan developed by community involvement,

·        The need for public notices to advertise the October 15^th.

Members also provided input to the Land Use subcommittee who are tackling revisions to the first draft of the Vision statement.  They will incorporate those suggestions and submit revisions to the land use office.  They reviewed the existing master plan schedule which indicates that comments received up to October 15^th will be incorporated into the draft that the Planning Board will review at a public hearing on November 18^th.  Comments received after October 15^th and up to and including November 18^th, will be considered at that meeting.  The Planning Board may act at that time to adopt as printed, make changes and renotice for adoption or order additional work.  Once all or a portion of the plan is adopted, work can begin on updating the CIP and other strategies of the plan including public education, voluntary efforts and formulating Ordinance and Regulation amendments.

Mr. Elson Moody suggested from the audience that all town meetings should be televised over the local public access channel.

The meeting adjourned at 8:35pm

Respectfully submitted,