MASTER PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
October 11, 2012 - 2:00 PM
Conference Room B, 3rd Floor, Town Hall
Voting Members Present: Charlie Corley, Rodney Frias, Don Garcia, Justin Provencher, Sam Wong, Chris Yates, Len Belli, Brian Choquette, Julie Papazisis
Ex Officio Members Present: John Blood
Others Present: Jennifer Burke, Kerin Shea, Michelle Ciccolo, Ralph Wilmer, Alyssa Sandoval, Brian Rich
Members Not Present: Terrence Joyce, Lorraine Nelson, Jim Quinn, Arthur Redding, Lynn Valcourt, Linda Ghiloni, Dave Stephens, Michael Burks, Paul Blazar, Tony Marques
Hand-Outs: Public Kick-Off Report, Survey Tabulations, Priority Projects Survey
Recap of Public Kick-Off Meeting
Ralph Wilmer thought the meeting was very well attended & produced good feedback. He noted that VHB did list in the report all Strengths, Challenges, Weaknesses & Threats that were mentioned during discussion. But there were several mentions that did not receive votes during that part of the meeting.
Mr. Choquette asked what the purpose of the report should to be? Should the Town be trying to meet this list? Mr. Wilmer explained that this report would aid in opening up further in-depth discussions in the upcoming chapters. It would be a way to get people to look and secondary & tertiary ramifications of projects & ideas. The MPSC should expect to see cross-fertilization in certain topics, i.e. parking. Parking will be addressed in both the Transportation chapter, as well as the Economic Development chapter. Ms. Sandoval noted another example seen in the survey results: Residents wanted to see more trails for recreation, as well as trails explored for transportation.
As part of the process, the MPSC will review draft chapters & tell VHB if it would like a certain topic/project explored more in one chapter than another.
Review of Survey Responses
Ms. Burke & Ms. Shea put together a basic survey. The survey went out to every resident in town via the DPW’s Water Quality Report as well as to property owners that lived out of Town. We received over 350 responses. The purpose of this survey was to introduce the residents to the Master Plan process, showing them the types of topics that would be covered & what types of ideas to start thinking about. There was one question for every topic. The data collected will be used to formulate more specific questions & articulate particular ideas for upcoming chapter topics. Care was taken not to ask specific questions that may make residents feel uncomfortable at this juncture, such as age or income. There will be time to ask those questions in upcoming forums, as those answers become
more relevant to the specific topic at hand. Some responses let Town staff know what further public outreach needs to be done. For example, 90% of respondents were home owners, showing a greater need to reach out to renters. Mr. Corley asked about the majority of responders ranking the Senior Center as “Don’t Know/Not Applicable.” Ms. She said that it just meant that most respondents had no first-hand knowledge of the Center & the services offered.
There were places to write in thoughts, comments & ideas on each topic. As those lists were quite lengthy, they will be handed out on a topic by topic basis. Ms. Ciccolo also said that during the Transportation chapter, she would hand out the results of the Hudson Transportation Survey conducted by the Minuteman Advisory Group for Interlocal Coordination (MAGIC) group, of which Hudson is part.
Ms. Shea will put the Kick-Off report & the survey results up on the website.
Ongoing Master Plan Process
- Land Use Chapter – The Land Use chapter is going to be the most dynamic chapter, as land use is closely related to all of the other chapters. Data collection will continue on this topic, and information coming out of other chapters will be incorporated. VHB will look at what has been implemented since the Community Development Plan of 2004 & what has not. The chapter will describe what zoning provisions are currently in place & what changes may be recommended, as well as the ramifications of those changes.
- Build Out – The Land Use chapter will also include a build-out analysis. It will show what is allowable now, under current zoning. Ms. Sandoval asked how detailed should the build out be? Should VHB take into account underutilized parcels that are currently in use, but have room for growth, expansion or redevelopment? Ms. Ciccolo said yes, that Hudson has several underutilized mills and industrial land that could accommodate a large addition or even a second building. Mr. Garcia noted that the Overlay Districts should also be taken into account. Ms. Ciccolo & Ms. Burke, with the assistance of the Economic Development Commission & Planning Board will send a list of parcels to VHB. Ms. Ciccolo also reminded VHB that the Town now has an updated Open Space Plan which identifies parcels that are
restricted & cannot be considered in the build out analysis.
Public Forum Schedule
A schedule of forum dates has been set. They will be held on 12/10/12, 1/14/13, 3/4/13 & 4/22/13. A fifth forum discussing recommendations & implementation will be held, but the date has yet to be determined, depending on the progress of the draft. Mr. Wilmer said the topic order is flexible. What should come first? The group decided that Housing & Economic Development will be the topic of the December forum. Mr. Garcia noted that the business community could attend only if the forum were early morning or in the evening. He thought evening was best. The forum will be held in the auditorium at Town Hall. Everyone was happy with the venue after the Public Kick-Off. Ms. Ciccolo suggested that one forum be at the Senior Center, perhaps the Social Services forum.
Mr. Wilmer asked in what format should draft chapters be sent & how far in advance? Chapters average approximately 30-40 pages, with charts, graphs & pictures. Early drafts will not be formatted & will not include most pictures, etc. Ms. Ciccolo & Ms. Burke thought 10 days in advance of a meeting would be good. Mr. Wilmer asked what format comments from the MPSC should take? Should all comments be sent to Town staff & forwarded as 1 packet to VHB? Should members receive MSWord.docs & send back with revision markings? Mr. Wilmer also asked for comments to be more content driven than word-smithing. He also noted that large documents can be exchanged via the VHB portal. He will also send things in different formats so members may see various ways the document might
be presented.
Mr. Choquette asked how/when does the MPSC make sure that all chapters mesh together? Is a topic completely closed once a new chapter has begun? Mr. Wilmer said that dovetailing the chapters would come after everything has been drafted. The door is never closed on a topic. The process is fluid & nothing is final until it has been adopted by the Planning Board.
Steering Committee Meeting Schedule
Ms. Burke noted that with such a large committee (26 people including Town staff and VHB consultants), finding common meeting times can be difficult. It is wise to set a specific, re-occurring date & time. As this day/time was the most popular amongst members as of the last poll, MPSC meetings will be now held the second Thursday of each month at 2:00 PM in conference room B, on the 3rd FL. The next meeting is scheduled for November 8.
New Business
Ms. Shea told members about the Priority Projects Public Hearing being held on October 30, 2012 at 7:00 PM in Town Hall, Selectmen’s Hearing Room. The Town is in the planning stages for our next round of Block Grant Funding. Topics to be discussed at this meeting include the Town’s Community Development Strategy and a list of priority projects. The Town is also considering the possibility of submitting a joint grant application with the City of Marlborough. Members’ attention was drawn to the Priority Projects Survey handout & they were encouraged to read the Community Development Strategy located on the Town’s website. Surveys are due October 26th.
No members had any other questions or concerns at this time.
Minutes
Justin Provencher, seconded by Chris Yates, made a motion to approve the minutes of June 7, 2012, as written.
Vote: 9-0-0, unanimous
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 3:05 PM.
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