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FARMINGTON BOARD OF SELECTMEN’S
WORKSHOP MINUTES
JULY 21, 2003
(Public Session)
Attendance: Chairman Joan Funk, Gerald McCarthy, David Hall, Barry Elliott & Matthew Scruton
Staff: Ernest M. Creveling, Town Administrator
Guest: Michelle Gagne, Community Profile Coordinator, UNH Cooperative Extension Service
The meeting convened and was called to order by Chairman Funk at 6:04 p.m. Chairman Funk led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ernie then introduced Michelle Gagne, Community Profile Coordinator for the UNH Cooperative Extension Service (CES). Michelle said she was asked to come tonight to discuss the Community Profile project with the Selectmen. She asked if the Board was familiar with the project. Michelle said she’s interested to know what reasons the Selectmen have for considering a Community Profile. Barry said the S.W.O.T. Summit brought out common and uncommon ground, shared by the citizens of Town. He said he feels developing new ideas could help to drive the direction for the Town of Farmington. Gerry asked just what it is the Cooperative Extension Service could do for Farmington. Michelle said the Extension Service has offices in every county and can bring research from the University of NH to
the counties. She said one project is the Community Profile. Michelle said many communities do a profile to assist them in their vision for their Master Plan and others do this to involve more of their citizens in the planning process. She said this helps to get action groups started, in order to actually get some work done. David elaborated on what Barry said, noting with only a handful of involved people, how does the Cooperative Extension Service propose to get more folks involved; to which Michelle replied the service helps to develop a Steering Committee, in order to plan facets of the Community Profile and to help promote the profile program. She said the Service can assist in teaching how to tend to publicity, food, childcare, donations and sponsors and can provide the necessary resources for the profile as well as the enthusiasm to get folks involved. Michelle said the Cooperative Extension Service also provides large group facilitators and provides
their training and support. Michelle then asked the Board for their thoughts on this. Matt asked what other communities do with this information and Michelle said as part of the process, action groups are formed to work on more specific projects/issues, etc. She said from trail systems, newsletters, and websites to bulletin boards, each community’s needs and projects “run the gambit”. Michelle said they usually bring in regional planning commissions to assist in the process too.
Ernie said one issue, which was brought up at the S.W.O.T. Summit, was how to set a good date/time. She said the Community Profile project is often used as a visioning tool for planning. Gerry said he though the Cooperative Extension Service could validate the results already gleaned from the summit, asking if perhaps the CES would only glean the same information from holding a Community Profile project. Michelle said she’s not sure if all the same issues would arise, but said she was certain the overall would be similar. Ernie said the CES should be able to validate and obtain even more helpful information. Barry said it’s the input from citizens that counts. Gerry asked if the CES is better at getting more community involvement and Michelle said they work with random group
assignment. Brad Anderson asked if people usually leave their own agendas outside the door and Michelle said yes and the project facilitators are also trained to keep the process going and know how to deal with these types of individuals. Michelle spoke about the components dealt with by individual groups. David asked her if she has found that new ideas and programs are actually initiated by this project and Michelle said it generally begins with broad spectrum, and then eventually becomes more specific. Brad then asked her if the CES has a program directed to specifically assist with the Master Plan process and Michelle said they are working on one at this time. She said the profile also assists in spurring political involvement too. She said beautification or annual occasion planning is often a concern of communities and this work is often short term. Michelle said there have been other more long-term projects such as trail revitalization or
the planning of a community center. She said the CES also has county staff available that would work with the Steering Committee and with the action groups. She said they could provide at least eight months of in depth support to get much of the interest/work “off the ground”. Brad then asked if the CES could really assist with the Master Plan and
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Michelle said they have worked with what they term, Stakeholder Forums to think about components of the Master Plan and have utilized the Community Profile for guidance. She said UNH CES encourages the use of other assistance aside from the profile alone, noting the CES employees are not planners or Master Plan experts. She said the profile certainly wouldn’t be the “be all, end all” in the Master Plan process. Ernie said in utilizing the CES as a Master Plan tool, the Planning Board really has to initiate this and then perhaps segway with the Community Profile. Barry said there is no real huge magic to know what our community wants, noting the magic is in making it all happen. Barry asked for the definition of a Stakeholder Forum and Michelle said the forum should consist of
board members, business owners and regular citizens, all contributing toward one particular focus. She said the profile is geared to inviting there certain groups of people. David asked for the success rate and Michelle said she did an evaluation of last years’ action groups, but didn’t bring the information with her this evening. She said not all were successful, but many groups did accomplish their goals. She said the success of the profile depends upon the time of year it is held too. Ernie said the city of Sanford received grant monies for a similar project and it was very successful, some due to publicity and media outreach.
Michelle said the CES tries to train group leaders to continue to “do things”. She said often times the Community Profile can spark citizen interest, as well as folks having the opportunity to learn more about their Town government, etc. Joan asked for the difference between the profile and the Town’s summit and Ernie said a lot more is talked about, there is more media publicity, as well as provisions for food and childcare; all of which will glean more attendance. Brad asked for clarification, saying he’s heard that the Community Profile can draw out a consensus, not just the “soft stuff” and both Michelle and Ernie replied, yes. Brad said his personal goal for Farmington is to obtain consensus information on substantive issues.
Michelle encouraged the Selectmen to view the Cooperative Extension Service website, noting they can view the Community Profiles for other communities on line. Brad then asked who is utilized as the facilitators, wondering if training stresses neutrality, as well as how to glean the information and how they get folks talking. Michelle said the education/training is to encourage non-bias. Brad said his feeling is that non-bias definitely be stressed. Michelle stressed the need to make sure the Steering Committee consists of a broad spectrum of folks, with a broad representation of the community. Gerry said everyone has a bias and their own agenda. Barry said no matter how folks are divided into separate groups, there would still always be individuals with their own priorities. He
said the Community Profile seems very similar to the Farmington S.W.O.T. Summit and he doesn’t know if the Town should engage CES for such services, wondering if perhaps Administration should simply just follow through with the summit results, forming groups and carrying on.
Michelle invited attendance to the Community Profile for the town of Sandown. She said she hears some pessimism from the Board. Gerry said he believes even if a larger group attended, they would come up with the same results the summit received. Brad said the success of a Community Profile might even be a stronger validation of the S.W.O.T. summit. Ernie said planning issues need to be addressed as soon as possible, but involvement in the profile could very well occur at a later date. Brad said the ZAMPS subcommittee is proposing more committees to work on various areas. Ernie said the major goal is to get improved citizen involvement. Michelle said the Town doesn’t need to do a lot of marketing for this. She said CES charges a $500.00 fee for supplies and for the cost
of publicity, childcare, food and sponsors. Michelle said the total cost is $2,000-$2,500, inclusive of the fee. Matt said he thinks this would be a good idea. Michelle Gagne said if the Selectmen agree to move forward with this the Cooperative Extension Service would meet with them and with various boards and committees. Ernie thanked Michelle for her time. She presented a video about the project, for the Board to view.
The Board of Selectmen discussed their concerns about actual improvement in attendance. Barry said more promotion might increase attendance, but the issues would most likely still be the same as at the summit. He said the CES agenda is similar to the S.W.O.T. summit, noting the key to this is to carry the work forward. Barry said he couldn’t imagine how many more committees or meetings he could attend, based upon what the Community Profile needs. David said Barry’s being realistic. Barry said Farmington should be able to take the information already received from the summit and now form subcommittees. Matt said the CES could offer a lot the summit couldn’t provide and feels they could provide a good product and end result, with successful implementation. Barry
said the Selectmen need to consider “burn out”, because it’s always the same citizens that get involved, wondering how to interest them more. He said he couldn’t remember any forums of this sort ever resulting in serious change. Brad Anderson said
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UNH CES guarantees more results. Joan said she believes Farmington, following upon it’s own summit results, could accomplish the same thing. Barry said if they utilize the CES service, then doesn’t that invalidate the summit and wouldn’t it make it appear as though the time already spent was wasted. He said the key is to turn the identified issues into action, further noting these things take time. Ernie said no matter what occurs, he still needs to do something with the S.W.O.T. summit information results and needs to move forward.
Barry asked about the possibility of interactive T.V., feeling response/involvement might be better. Brad
asked for the assurance in confidence of information/action. Ernie said the Selectmen can revisit at next Monday’s meeting. Joan suggested the availability of questionnaires for citizen response. Discussion then ensued regarding door-to-door surveying. Gerry said whatever happens, they must move along and make serious progress over the next 6-8 months, with the information gleaned.
Joan Funk made a motion to allow the Town Administrator to sign for the $75,000 Community Health grant and for the digital radio grant for the Fire Dept. David Hall seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous.
The meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynn C. Seaboyer
Admin. Asst.
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