HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-01-11-2020-min
Lexington 2020 Vision Committee
January 11, 2007 Meeting Minutes
7:45 am - Selectmen’s Meeting Room
Members Present
: Richard Pagett, Fernando Quezada, Mollie Garberg, Peter Enrich,
Ann Redmon, Marian Cohen, Stacey Hamilton, Charles Hornig,
Others
: Carl Valente, Candy McLaughlin, Stephen Hodson, George Burnell, Keith
Ohmart, Ingrid Klimoff, Toby Sackton
Meeting was called to order at 7:50 a.m.
Economic Development Task Force Report
Mollie provided a report of where the Economic Development Task Force presently
stands in its various efforts.
Economic Development Officer sub-group
1. Carl Valente presented the EDO job description to BOS on 12/18/06
2. The position is presently being advertised
3. Conversations with other Town’s Economic Dev. Officers has taken
place.
Finance/Economic Impact Modeling sub-group
1. The Finance/Economic Impact sub-group has been busy creating a
series of hypothetical development scenarios for Lexington.
2. The subgroup has contacted different consulting agencies and received
price estimates.
3. The subgroup is in the process of listing functions the consulting group
will be asked to undertake.
Permitting/Regulatory sub-group
1. This sub-group has researched and developed a flow chart of steps in
the business permitting process
2. The sub-group will be speaking with Town officials that are related to
the regulatory/permitting process so as to understand their role better
in the permitting process
3. The sub-group is in the process of interviewing new, local businesses
to develop permitting process case studies
Communication sub-group
1. The sub-group will publish an article in the newspaper soon to inform
the community of the Task Force’s activities.
2. Community support will be required for any new initiatives.
The Economic Development Task Force plans to report back to the 2020 Vision
Committee in either February or March.
Sustainable Development Task Force Report
Toby Sackton referred back to the May scoping group that identified focusing on
greenhouse gas emissions as a quantifiable place to start addressing sustainability issues.
He summarized the work of a Task Force subgroup that investigated the international
Cities for Climate Protection program. They provide guidance to municipalities in
developing a Climate Action Plan, and provide software for tracking progress against the
goals. Candy will send out via email the Power Point presentation that the group has
prepared.
The benefits to Lexington of joining Cities for Climate Protection include:
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A proven process for establishing realistic targets with tools to measure and
document progress – quantifiable goals with a feedback mechanism.
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An umbrella for integrating the various groups currently working on various
initiatives, such as the Energy Committee.
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A tool for mobilizing latent support for sustainability action by providing a
collective program that goes beyond individual initiative (only municipalities can
join CCP)
Richard questioned whether such an effort is supportable with current staffing. Toby
agreed that this is the key issue, and further research is needed. The preliminary idea is
for the Selectmen to appoint a Sustainability Committee to oversee development of the
Climate Action Plan, with a staff liaison person who would spend roughly 2 hours a week
for 6 months. Grant funding is available for hiring interns to do much of the data
collection.
Other Task Force subgroups are inventorying current initiatives and planning for
education and outreach. The Task Force plans to report to the 2020 Vision Committee in
March.
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Draft minutes from the December 14, 2006 meeting were distributed. Minutes for both
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December 14, 2006 and January 11, 2007 will be on the agenda for the next meeting.
The next meeting will be held February 8, 2007 in the Ellen Stone Room in Cary Hall.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45.