HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-04-30-VISION2025-min Town of Lexington
Vision for Lexington Committee Meeting
April 30,2021
Remote Meeting
7:45 a.m.—9:00 a.m.
Members Present: Fernando Quezada, Dan Krupka, Margaret Coppe, Mark Manasas,Joe Pato, Bhumip
Khasnabish, Kathleen Lenihan,Alan Wrigley, Samita Mandelia, Peter Lee,Andrew Dixon, and Robert
Peters
Members Absent:
Guests: Candy McLaughlin, Marian Cohen,Jyotsna Kakullavarapu, and Weidong Wang
Professional Staff Present: Katharine Labrecque, Management Analyst
The meeting was called to order: 7:47am
The Remote Meeting Opening Script was read by the chair, Fernando Quezada.
Minutes:
• Minutes from the March 26, 2021 meeting were approved with minor edits.
Handouts/Documents Shared on Zoom Screen:
• Townwide survey project timeline.
Action Items Summary:
• Andrew and Peter will work together to create a new committee logo.
• Joe and Kathleen will organize a meeting with the Town Manager and Superintendent to
discuss the letter sent to the select board and school committee.
• All committee members should think about three ways to improve participation in the
survey.
• Dan and Margaret will work on a new member orientation/plan.
Meeting Highlights:
Vote to Confirm Vision for Lexington Co-Chair
The committee unanimously approved Margaret Coppe as Co-Chair.
Future committee membership, charge and structure, and New Member Orientation
Margaret provided a general update. Margaret,Joe, and Dan met to review the 15 applications
submitted to the Town. Margaret commented they chose 3 applicants who they thought would enhance
the diversity of the committee.They also considered enlarging the size of the committee.Joe noted that
this committee has the highest number of applicants for a single seat.Joe added that after this meeting
we would forward the recommendations to the Select Board,who will ultimately make the decision.The
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next general Select Board meeting is two Mondays from now. Margaret asked how increasing
membership would affect quorum. If we increase the number of members to 15 then the quorum then
becomes 8(50%+1). Margaret added that one of the reasons we decreased the size of the committee in
the past was because we struggled to get quorum.Joe commented that he is asking the board to change
the charges as we go in order to make the quorum 50%+ 1 of the appointed members as allowed by the
Attorney General. Alan made the motion to ask the Select Board to increase the number of members to
15.
The committee unanimously approved the request to the Select Board to increase the committee's
membership to 15.
Margaret spoke about how important it is new members to learn the history of the committee and the
expectations. Dan suggested that getting members together to collectively to get them up to speed on
what we have done and what we are working on. Dan and Margaret volunteered to work on a new
member orientation or plan. Andrew suggested that maybe we consider putting together a presentation
so we don't have to repeat it every time, but then meet after to discuss any questions.
Townwide Survey Planning Update
Mark commented that he and Marian met with the folks from CEL.The working group has working on
revising the questions to encompass the feedback received. Mark added that Ruth Remington,from the
Center for Social Research,will now be joining us for future meetings. Margaret asked about hard copies
of the survey. Marian responded that she inputs all that data, and last time around most of the people
asking for hard copies were from the Asian community because it was translated.There was question
about advertising the survey. Marian commented that we are looking to increase advertising by including
it in a census insert, as well as using Sean to post to various listservs and social media platforms. Marian
added we have a lot more channels this time to increase the response rate. Bhumip asked about what an
ideal sample size is. Marian responded that in this case,we want to make sure the sample is
representative of the population. Mark added that the last two surveys had about a 4-5% response rate,
but this time we are looking for about 10%.
Bhumip requested that members think about three ways in which we can improve participation in the
survey for our next meeting.
Observations from Andrew Dixon on future housing trends in Lexington
Andrew will provide a housing market update at the next meeting on May 28th. Andrew asked what sort
of questions or statistics this group wants. Andrew provided a brief summary of how the housing market
has shifted. Bob provided a high-level overview of how the Comprehensive Plan speaks to some of the
issues around housing and transportation.
Committee "re-branding" and topics for future consideration
Dan commented that we changed our name so this is good opportunity to rebrand and get the word out
about the survey. Peter Lee put together the original 20/20 logo.There was discussion about whether the
new logo should be around future themes/topics. Candy commented that the logo should evoke that this
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is an effort to look ahead to the future. Dan suggested that we designate someone to lead this effort.
Andrew and Peter will work to create a new committee logo.
Pending issues from Vision for Lexington Committee meeting of 3/26/21:
Joe mentioned that the Select Board received the letter a week and a half ago.Joe continued that he and
Kathleen were going to arrange a discussion with the Town Manager and the Superintendent of Schools
to discuss how things might be going forward. Kathleen commented that Julie Hackett is open to having a
discussion.
Enhancing Communications in Lexington
Margaret commented that one of the issues was the email accounts for all the different committees in
Town, and there wasn't a very positive response from the Town Manager when this issued was raised.
Margaret commented this really needs to be addressed. Margaret asked Joe where we are with the new
website.Joe commented that the RFP has not been issued yet because requirements are still being
drafted. Dan added that the communications plan is the priority, but until we have a better
understanding of Sean's responsibilities we can't move forward. Marian responded that she worked with
Sean to develop the communications survey,which he plans to use the results to build the
communications plan. Dan asked what information or material does he actually communicate and how is
it decided. Marian commented that this is a work in progress. A lot of what he posts has to go through
the Town Manager's Office. Marian added that there has been discussion about adding a
communications office or partner with the school communications office.
Public Comment
Resident,Weidong Wang, introduced himself. Weidong commented that he is here to get more familiar
with the committee and the topics as he is one of the applicants.
Next Meeting Date
• 7:45am, May 28, 2021
• 7:45am,June 25, 2021
• 7:45am,July 30, 2021
Meeting ended at 9:00 a.m.
Minutes submitted by Management Analyst, Katharine Labrecque
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