Wellfleet Board of Selectmen
Minutes of Meeting of February 28, 2004
Library Meeting Room
Present: Dale Donovan, Chair; Michael May, Ira Wood, Helen Miranda Wilson
Absent: Jerry Houk
Also Present: John Makely, acting as facilitator
Chair Donovan called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m., referring the members to the agenda ground rules for the session and noting that this goal-planning session was part of an ongoing project begun at the meeting of 11-15-03, in which the BOS had received input from members of boards and committees resulting in discussion of a range of issues. Donovan pointed out what had already been accomplished because of the 11-15 meeting: a Local Comprehensive Plan Committee is now being formed and the Chief of Police has followed through on a suggestion on cooperation and regionalization of services. He explained that the focus of this meeting would be kept between the BOS and the facilitator with the opportunity for public input at the end of the session.
John Makely explained that his presence as facilitator would allow the Chair to be able to think and contribute to discussion without the interference of the general responsibilities of the chairman; he, as a neutral facilitator, was not accountable for results, has no stake in the outcome of the discussion, and might or might not have content expertise. He added that thinking "outside the box" meant going beyond the "we've always done it this way" mentality to look for creative ways to benefit Wellfleet.
Turning to the material earlier distributed to the Board, a reformatted minutes of the 11-15-03 agenda items 1 and 2 (50+ ideas) and an extraction of goals from the 1995 Local Comprehensive Plan (20 goals), Makely suggested that the first task of the meeting was to cull these 70 items down to a manageable number for five people to determine how to measure success for and to report back upon progress during FY 2005. The Board first considered the ideas generated by the attendees of the 11-15 meeting, ultimately prioritizing these results as to importance numerically from 1 ("most important") to 5 ("least important" and/or "would be nice to do"). (See attached chart for categorization of items.)
Preceding and during the process of placing of items in order of priority, the following topics came under discussion:
1. Much overlapping occurs--many goals suggested by participants in the 11-15 meeting related directly to goals listed in the 1995 LCP.
2. There is importance to the BOS in developing a system and assessing responsibility to insure that the goals of the LCP are accomplished and not deviated from.
3. Water and waste water were determined to be of primary importance in this goal-setting session.
4. BOS Goal #4 from the 1987 Master Plan was a "missing ingredient" in that it needed to be followed through; a future consideration would be to look up 1987's Goal #4.
5. A suggestion from Managing for Dummies to think in one-sentence goals is a valuable tool.
6. Process is important; methods for obtaining goals come into view as goals are being written. Selectmen, under the Charter, are to work with local boards and committees and could encourage local committees to use the LCP as a "conscience".
7. Suggestion was made that Zoning Bylaws need changing so that Main Street is a separate district and that establishment of a District of Critical Planning Control (DCPC), with its state zoning, might be a means of facilitating this. An argument was advanced that although the DCPC is a useful tool in Massachusetts because it helps towns develop zoning bylaw changes, its process of "freezing zoning" is not as effective as using tried- and-true town zoning procedures. Zoning Bylaws were established as a goal.
8. Wellfleet is losing its Town Landings; prevention of this should be a goal.
9. Since no particular amount of money has been budgeted for BOS goals, these goals might be more oriented toward establishing processes (e.g., the current project of establishing deeds to town properties); if a process for problem-solving is missing, priority should be given to establishing one.
10. The facilitator asked what elements of the process so far should be used in establishing goals in FY2006. Opinion noted that the process should be kept simple, again establishing 5 categories into which each goal item should be placed for a final vote. It was hoped that, rather than necessitating the current brainstorming process, such a goal meeting in 2006 would review how well goals set in 2005 had been met.
11. Earlier decisions that have had an ongoing effect, such as recycling, should be revisited to examine viability and validity.
12. The difficulty of measuring communication (i.e., among boards and departments, of the townspeople's preferences) was noted; the possibility of a survey was advanced.
Audience members were invited to comment:
1. Jean Schaeffer stated that she had not liked hearing that the Board should concentrate on process rather than goals; Chair Donovan replied that he was suggesting a process that would produce results but which was differentiated from a project such as building a new fire/police station.
2. Walt Schenck was concerned with a statement that committees should be encouraged rather than required to follow the LCP; also, he wanted to hear more about a review of goals set during the year and improvements that have been made. Wilson replied that requiring a regulatory board to act out of the LCP is not mandatory; she added that she sees the LCP as a conscience.
3. Betty Kimball felt that the understanding that the LCP was not a legal document had resulted in some local attitude that it was therefore meaningless and simply a stamp of the Cape Cod Commission approval. Donovan pointed out that its stamp by the Commission made it a legal document whose certification allowed the Town to take certain actions such as receiving grants for affordable housing, assessing development impact fees, and entering development agreements with private contractors--he noted that it has but does not force legal ramifications.
The Chair announced that the next meeting would concern goal prioritizing and editing; a date in the latter part of March would be set at the next Board meeting. Makely asked for advice on making the next meeting more valuable; the Chair noted that the use of the facilitator had been extremely helpful; Wilson asked if the Board might bring suggestions valuable for facilitating to the next meeting.
Ira Wood moved and Michael May seconded adjournment; the meeting adjourned at 12:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Frances J. Castillo ____________________________
Committee Secretary Dale Donovan, Chair
____________________________
Ira Wood
____________________________
Michael May
____________________________
Helen Miranda Wilson
| 
