HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-01-11-MGWG-min.pdf Subject: 2020 Minutes remailed
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 23:31:44 +0000
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MINUTES OF WORK GROUP MEETING
Title of Work Group:
Managing Growth: Development and Open Space
Date, Time, and Location of Meeting:
Tuesday, January 11, 2000, 7:00pm - 9:00pm, Selectmen's Meeting Room
Members Present:
Heather Sweeney [Steering Committee liaison #1]
John Andrews
Suzanne Caton
John Frey
Glenn Garber [Staff Resource]
Ione Garing
Tom Harden
Karl Kastorf
Marianne Lazarus
Joe Marino [Staff Resource]
Gerry Moloney
Edmond Vail
Lee Sinai
Members Absent:
Larry Belvin, Gary Fallick, Karen Longeteig, Fred Merrill [Steering
Committee liaison #2] , Donna Rossi
Distributed Information:
1. Meeting Agenda prepared by Suzanne Caton
2. Workplan, Draft 1 prepared by Suzanne Caton
3. List of CPG Participants, Managing Growth, dated 1/10/00
[secretary's note: the list does not include the name of Mike
Hanauer,
who was present at the 1/6 meeting but not at 1/11 meeting. . .?]
Date, Time, and Location of Next Scheduled Meeting:
Thursday, January 20, 2000, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
[and every other Thursday afterward]
location to be determined by chair in consultation with TMgr.
The meeting was called to order by acting chairperson Suzanne Caton.
Issues Addressed and Agreements Made:
1. Minutes of last meeting were approved with the following
corrections:
Add to list of members present the name of Marianne Lazarus.
Correct the spelling of the name of member Edmond Vail [sic] .
Identify the documents for the working group "library" being held by Joe
Marino. They are [approximate titles] : "Topical Areas for Fall Forum
Breakout Meetings, " "Draft Report of Visioning Process, June
Workshop, " "Initiating Committee Conversations, January 1999. "
2 . Agenda Item: Discuss and determine logistics and procedures for
future work group meetings. Discussion was based on draft Workplan
proposed by Suzanne Caton and Appendix A of the Initiating Committee
document "Guidance for Lexington 2020 Work Groups" of 1/6/00. It was
agreed:
This work group will meet twice a month, every other Thursday starting
from 1/20/2000. Meetings will last 2 hours, starting at 7 pm and ending
at 9 pm. Suzanne Caton will make arrangements with the Town Manager's
office for a location, which hopefully will be permanent and with a
table that will accommodate the whole group (about 18) .
A quorum will consist of the members present. A quorum for approving
reports or other issues for which the chair may call for a vote will be
a simple majority of the work group membership--or 8 of the 14 on the
current Working Group Members list.
A scheduled meeting will be cancelled automatically by the announcement
of school snow closure.
There will be no specific attendance requirements of the members,
presuming that all are dedicated to working together to complete the
task.
A discussion of the question of whether changes/additions in the
membership of the work group were needed concluded with the observation
that the needs will not become clear until substantive issues are
addressed. At that time the membership can decide who needs to be added
and what the newcomers' voting privileges will be.
The group will elect a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson. The Chair will
develop meeting agendas and will distribute them by Email before
meetings as far as possible, with the understanding that the agenda may
be revised at the start of the meeting.
It was decided to disseminate documents (meeting notices, agendas,
minutes, etc. ) to the membership by Email (preferably by using Email
text rather than attachments) . Edmond Vail will pass these messages by
FAX to John Frey, who does not have Email, and Karl Kastorf will see to
it that Ione Garing is similarly informed. [More on this topic later. ]
The Chair will ensure that minutes from the previous meeting are written
and sent to members.
The Chair will bring scheduled meetings to order and assist the group in
addressing agenda items, and will bring issues to a vote when group
--- decisions must be made and announce vote results.
The Chair will maintain a repository of all official work group
documents, but additionaly Karl Kastorf will maintain the group's web
site where they will be posted.
The Chair will maintain a schedule of deadlines for deliverables.
It will be the Chair's task to coordinate subcomittees.
The Chair will see to it that at the start of each meeting one member of
the group, on a rotating basis, is appointed to take minutes. That
person will write up the minutes, in the format distributed in the
Guidance packet, and distribute them to the members by Email, including
a copy to Michael Baker in the Town Manager's office, (instead of by
hardcopy as directed in the Guidance packet) . The minute-taker should
record dissenting opinions, if any, to group discussions.
3 . Organizational structure and responsibilites were discussed as
outlined in Appendix A of the "Guidance" handout:
Subcomittees will be identified as needed. Each will organize itself
roughly following the larger work group's Workplan, with special
attention to communication links with the work group.
A person to act as liason with the Core Participants Group will be
selected from the work group membership on a shared basis, when needed.
Suzanne Caton or Heather Heartshorn-Sweeney will find out more about the
liason's responsiblities and role.
The membership voted Suzanne Caton to be Chairperson and Marianne
Lazarus Vice Chairperson.
4. The agenda item of assignment of one or two people to review
existing 20/20 project material which is in Joe Marino's keeping was
bypassed.
5. An informal discussion of the work group mission statement (from
"Guidance" Appendix B) and its key questions was held, with the
following points:
Is our mission to define the physical character of the town in 20 years
or the means of controlling growth? Answer: the physical character will
be defined by what growth takes place.
What are the factors that make the town nice to live in? Answer: among
others, open space, clean environment, little noise.
Are we deciding what land use and open space there will be? or how do
we/can we control those?
What are the limits? For example, do we want high density all over
town, or the current density all over town, or some dense and some
preserved?
The town's "Values" discussions gave us the town's guidelines--open
space, diversity, etc.--that can provide a framework for our group's
definition of values, which could be our starting point. On the other
hand, resources such as maps can be used to analyze the existing
character. We need to assess the relationship between values and
character.
Mapping resources are being developed by others in town (i.e. computer
graphics) . We can use them to study demographics. Check out what was
done for the bike path. Look into what Brian Gilbert is doing.
The Conservation Commission's land aquisition study committee chaired by
David Williams and assisted by John Andrews made extensive colored maps
in their project of identifying endangered open space in town, along
with criteria for evaluating properties, such as types and numbers of
wildlife, biodiversity, etc. Because the properties are vulnerable the
Commission protects their identity; special arrangements for sharing the
Commission's information with us will have to be worked out.
Ione Garing introduced as background material several reports made to
past Town Meetings--"Town Open Space Plan, " "Land Use Change in the
80's, " a population report, a solid waste committe report. She was
appointed to assemble a list of these and other suggested background
reading materials, which should be available at Cary Library (probably
in the Lexington Room) .
Glenn Garber reported that the Planning Board is working on a
comprehensive plan for the town, expected to be completed in two years,
which will include detailed zoning proposals to be brought to Town
Meeting for approval. They expect to complete a first phase, site
analyses of undeveloped spaces and assessing growth potential under
current zoning, by the end of the summer.
Glenn described what he saw as our group's role in relation to the
Planning Board. Our task is to define values that can serve as
guidelines for the Board's more specific actions, and to answer
questions such as: what are desired densities? what character do we most
value? what ultimate residential and commercial growth levels are
wanted? We should supply the endorsement for the Planning Board's going
in a particular direction. He advised reining in "creative" ideas for
practicality's sake.
Recommendations for specific sites such as changing the use of one on
Clarke Street to a parking lot or garage should be avoided; instead,
this site might be used as an example to help focus on the need for
additional parking in the center.
We should regard our project as an opportunity to look not 3 to 5 years
ahead but 20, starting from an examination of what is already in place.
Then, consider: Do we want to maintain growth? Slow it down? Do we want
certain parts, like the center, to grow--change density--differently
from others?
We'll need to address the question of erosion of the older urban core.
We'll need to address people's dependency on the automobile (although
58% of the population--children, the elderly, and lower income
people--does not drive) . Are there alternatives to automobile travel?
The relationship of transportation availability to the location of
developments such as the proposed redevelopment of the Met State
property.
What will validate the decisions our small group makes for the town at
large? Answer: our ability to back up our suggestions with information,
and ultimately the actions taken by Town Meeting in response to Planning
Board [and other?] proposals.
Where do we begin? By working on the questions outlined in Appendix B,
especially in light of the question, What do we value?
Other documents to research: The Mercer Report, and the Initiating
Committee's 3/29/99 report to Selectmen. Joe Marino will make/get
copies of the latter and Marianne Lazarus will distribute. Watch the
web site for reports on availabilty of further documents, posted there
by Joe or by Karl.
Respectfully submitted, Marianne Lazarus, January 12, 2000 (mailed
later) .
1
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Subject: 2020 Minutes,follow-up
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2000 11:35:37 +0000
From: Alan and Marianne Lazarus <malazarus@worldnet.att.net>
To: John Andrews <jwa@alum.mit.edu>,Larry Belvin<lnbelvin@world.std.com>,
Suzanne Caton<scaton@sybase.com>, Gary Fallick<gary_fallick@waters.com>,
Mike Hanauer<michaeha@quintus.com>, Tom Harden <tharden119@aol.com>,
Karl Kastorf/lone Garing <karl_kastorf @ wgbh.org>,
Marianne Lazarus<malazarus@worldnet.att.net>, Gerry Moloney <Halyardbld@aol.com>,
Donna Rossi <Donna.T.Rossi@saic.com>, Edmond Vail/John Frey <edvail@aol.com>,
Karen Longteig<klongteig@aol.com>, Lee Sinai<lsinai@worldnet.att.net>,
Fred Merrill<flmerrill@sasaki.com>,
Heather Hartshorn-Sweeney<Heather_Sweeney@mma.org>,
Glenn Garber<ggarber@ci.lexington.ma.us>, Joe Marino<jmarino@ci.lexington.ma.us>,
Maryann McCall-Taylor<mmccall@ci.lexington.ma.us>,
Marilyn Nordby <mnordby@ci.lexington.ma.us>
CC: CC: Michael Baker<mbaker@ci.lexington.ma.us>
To: 2020 "Growth" Workgroup
From: Marianne Lazarus
Please note that there are two errors in my list of email addresses to
which the minutes for the Jan. 11 work group meeting were sent:
Larry Belvin is at <lnbelvin@world.std.com>
Fred Merrill is at <flmerrill@sasaki.com>
Larry adds the correction that Diana Rossi was at the Jan. 6 meeting.
Larry asks how to access the website. I believe it's described on one
of the last pages of the document titled Agenda that was handed out at
the Jan. 6 meeting, but I haven't tried it yet. Briefly, the address is
<www.habama.com/lexington>.