HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-12-18-2020-min (Initiating Committee)
Initiating Committee
December 18, 1998
Minutes
Members Present: Peter Enrich, Chuck Benson, Helen Cohen, Clark Cowen, Robin
DiGiammarino, Alan Lazarus, Peggy Perry, Marjorie Platt, and Fernando Quezada
CALL TO ORDER
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The group agreed on the following revision to the minutes of December 4, 1998 before
approving them. In the “Clarification of the Process” section, the third bulleted item should
also note that the working groups will consult with and present to the steering committee
before any reorganization of these groups takes place.
DISCUSSION
Chuck Benson asked if materials from previous town strategic planning efforts were available
to residents who might request them. He also suggested that the initiating committee receive
these same materials.
The group discussed the appropriate salutation of the letter and concluded that it should be
signed by Fernando Quezada, Chair on behalf of the Initiating Committee.
Representation of Groups and Organizations
The committee discussed the mailing of the letter to organizations and in doing so, offered
forth several different perspectives. Some members felt that those groups which were not
invited to send a delegate and therefore may not have a chosen representative in the process
may feel slighted and ask why they weren’t included. It was pointed out, however, that not
every organization will have a delegate and the broader goal is to try an obtain a diverse
sampling of organizations and buy-in of the process.
In order to be sensitive to the concerns of group representation, the committee opted to
stagger the mailing of the letter to the organizations, delaying it until responses from residents
are received. Once the residents responses are in, the committee intends to send a letter of
receipt to the respondents, including a list of organizations to which they (the residents) can
add other suggestions for groups that don’t appear.
Since delegates from organizations are going to be recruited slightly differently than residents,
the committee brought up the issue of whether or not delegates would be subject to the same
time window for committing to and joining the Stakeholders groups as would general
participants.
Selecting a Consultant
As the committee turned to a conversation about the project timeline, the need to hire a
consultant who could assist with the scheduling was brought up.Rick outlined what he
thought was a realistic schedule for hiring a consultant: Sending out an RFP before the first
of the year, obtaining proposals by the end of January and having a consultant on board
sometime in February. The following Initiating Committee members agreed to form a sub-
committee to review and approve the RFP and send it out before the January 15 meeting:
Peter Enrich, Chuck Benson, Marjorie Platt, and Rick White.
Mailing Letters to Residents
The committee set the date of January 5, 1999 for letters to be mailed and agreed that
January 22 be set as the last official date for responses to be accepted. During this
discussion, the committee also supported the idea of having an article submitted to the
Minuteman to appear on January 7.
Organizing Incoming Responses
Questions were raised regarding the responses and how they would be received and
organized. As the forms are returned, staff support will enter the information into a database
and bring the results to the committee. Committee members were asked to consider which
characteristics and values they would like to see represented on the Steering Committee and
review the responses with this in mind. Clark Cowen was selected to head up the process of
reviewing responses, though the specifics of the process were not discussed.
Financial Considerations
When asked how much funding was available for the project, Rick stated that $40,000 was
set aside in a Selectmen’s gift account, obtained from a private donor who wished to provide
a benefit to the town. Rick is currently in contact with other potential donors.
In offering some background, Rick noted that other towns have gone through similar strategic
planning processes spending somewhere between a range of $80,000 and $150,000.
TASKS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED BEFORE NEXT MEETING
1. Revise the letter and form to residents and send it out on January 5.
2. Develop a working list of organizations to contact directly.
3. Write a letter of receipt to be sent to resident respondents.
4. Create an RFP to hire a consultant and send it out. (RFP sub-committee)
5. Describe in detail the budgets of other communities that conducted strategic plans.
6. Engage committee members about the development of a project website (Rick)
7. Revise the step-by-step schematic plan of the process and add changes or additions that
have been made to the schedule and process (Process Sub-Committee)
INITIATING COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE
January 15 (Changed from Jan. 8 at the end of the Dec. 18 meeting)
January 29
February 12