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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-10-12-2020ECON-min.pdf Lexington 2020 Vision Committee October 12, 2006 Meeting Minutes 7:45 am - Selectmen's Meeting Room Members Present: Richard Pagett, Fernando Quezada, Mollie Garberg, Stacey Hamilton, Ann Redmon, Marian Cohen Others: Carl Valente, Candy McLaughlin, Stephen Hodson Fernando called the meeting to order at 7:45 am. The minutes of the September 21st, 2006 meeting were approved. It was noted that all minutes are approved before being published on the Lexington 2020 Vision Committee's website. The 2020 Vision Public Meeting was debriefed. Those who attended the Public Meeting spoke favorably about the overall turnout, both in numbers and new faces present. People with varying perspectives are welcome and encouraged to attend Vision 2020 meetings. Regarding the Economic Development Task Force, it was noted that Ms. Johnson's presentation provided an informative overview of the broad range of issues that might comprise an economic development officer's responsibilities. Issues including commercial recruitment methods and the relationship between commercial tax rates and property tax rates were discussed. That being said, it was also noted that Lexington and Cambridge are very different in many respects; what is right for Cambridge is not necessarily right for Lexington. Regarding the Sustainable Development Task Force, the group continues to discuss whether its focus should be narrowed to issues concerning greenhouse gases or broadened to larger issues of sustainability. The Al Gore book/movie, An Inconvenient Truth, was recommended as a source of information concerning greenhouse gases and other sustainability issues. Fernando thanked all individuals who were present for attending the previous evening's 2020 Vision Public Meeting. In order to guide 2020 Vision Task Forces in their efforts, Candy revised and updated the previous, Guidance for Task Forces: 2020 Vision. The contents of this guide were reviewed and discussed by the group. A final version is to be published soon. The Open Meeting Law and its relevance to task force members' methods of communication was discussed. All task force decisions must be made in an open meeting forum. Closed communication methods such as email are useful for general discussion of topics, but do not meet the requirements of the Open Meeting Law. Additional recruitment for 2020 Vision Committee and task forces was discussed. It is in the committee and task forces' interests to recruit more members. More members will create a greater exchange of ideas from different constituencies of Lexington. Additionally, more members can distribute workloads more evenly. Presently, Greg Zurlo is in the process of recruiting members for the Economic Development Task Force. Jeanne Krieger stood in for Toby Sackton to organize those interested in the Sustainable Development Task Force. Communication between the 2020 Vision Committee and other Town committees, in particular the Center Committee, was raised as an issue. Measures should be taken to facilitate communication between the two groups. A liaison between the two groups may be a good way of creating a continued means of communication. Additionally, it was suggested that a public relations campaign asserting the 2020 Vision Committee's continuing viability and contributions to the greater Lexington community might be beneficial. In conjunction with such a campaign, a review of the committee's purpose should take place at the next meeting on November 9th, 2006. The meeting was then adjourned.