HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-03-07-MGWG-min.pdf Tuesday, March 14, 2000 Minutes of 03/07/00(Hard copy to Suzanne Page: 1
Caton,lone Garing,John Frey)
Subject: Minutes of 03/07/00 (Hard copy to Suzanne Caton, Ione Garing,John Frey)
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 14:35:23 -0500
MINUTES OF WORK GROUP MEETING
Title of Work Group: Managing Growth: Development and Open Space
Date, Time and Location of Meeting: Tuesday, March 07, 2000, 7:00 ? 9:00
PM, Cary Hall
Members Present:
Marianne Lazarus
Ione Goring
Mike Hanauer
Suzanne Caton
Donna Rossi
Tiffany Papadonis
Karl Kastorf
Lee Sinai
John Frey
John Andrews
Larry Belvin
Ed Vail
Tom Harden
Gerry Moloney
Members Absent:
Heather Sweeney (Steering Committee liason #1)
Fred Merrill (Steering Committee liason #2)
Glenn Garber (Staff Resource)
Karen Longteig
Josh Murray
Markus Pinney
The meeting was called to order by chairperson Suzanne Caton at 7:05PM.
The minutes of the last meeting were approved as is ? no corrections or
additions were offered.
The meeting was devoted to two topics, final review of the Environmental
Scan and a report about the Core Participants Group meeting held on March
2.
Karl Kastorf distributed Draft 7A, 2000 of the Environmental Scan. The
major portion of the meeting consisted of a collective review of this
document in order to produce the final version for submission on March
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Tuesday, March 14, 2000 Minutes of 03/07/00(Hard copy to Suzanne Page:2
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10. Copies will also be emailed to all work group members who have
email.
Items in Draft 7A were marked with an asterisk to indicate edits or
additions to the previous draft. Following a period in which the
committee members silently read through the draft, each section was
considered for any revisions. Much of the discussion centered on
?wordsmithing? for clarification, as most of the content had been
reviewed/debated in depth at the preceeding meeting. This was recorded
in the minutes of 03/02/00 by Larry Belvin.
Some redundancy was noted regarding the information on vacant land in the
Residential Development and Open Space portions of the Current Status
section. Similarly, duplicate information concerning the potential
impact of new technology appeared in three parts of the Future Trends
section. In both cases the repeat information was deleted.
It was agreed to replace ?will? with ?may? in all appropriate Future
Trends and External Forces and Pressures statements in recognition that
we are making our best guesses of future developments and circumstances.
There was additional discussion of the ramifications of expanded
operations at Hanscom, including the prospect of a restaurant being
opened at the existing facility and possible construction of a hotel on
or in the immediate vicinity of the airport. Donna Rossi mentioned the
growth of commercial air traffic and subsequent expansion of facilities
and infrastructure at Pease Air Base.
The Environmental Quality Current Status section was amended by John
Andrews' proposal to note dioxin and lead exposure being experienced in
Lexington and surrounding communities due to the incineration of our
trash. He explained how these harmful chemicals reach us through the
food chain even though the incineration is not local.
The influence of new technology on our working and living arrangements
led to the comment by Karl that new types of businesses may exist in
Lexington center two decades from now.
In addition to final edits, the main remaining task is to add references
to the Environmental Scan. All contributors must email their references
to Karl by Wednesday, March 8.
Mike Hanauer reported on the Core Participants Group meeting that he
attended on March 3. About 30 people attended and particpated in a
visioning exercise which Mike described. The first step was to list the
single word that best describes the present character of Lexington. The
second step was to list the adjectives that the participants would want
their children/grandchildren to use to describe the Lexington of 2020.
Mike noted tremendous overlap with the issues we have been discussing in
our Work Group. ?Serene, vibrant, model town, townwide vision? were
among the terms proposed.
Then the group voted on the top three attributes. Those chosen were:
Inclusiveness/Diversity
Open Space ? Still Green
Affordable
We discussed what the term "Diversity" means to people. It varies
considerably, to include philosophical and economic, as well as religious
and ethnic diversity. While the sentiment of the Core Participants Group
was reported to strongly favor of all aspects of diversity, there was
also the caveat, "But don't alter the character of the town. " In line
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with other issues that our group has been considering, John Andrews,
commented that diversity could be considered on a regional basis,
encompassing adjoining towns rather than Lexington alone.
It was noted that, considering the consistency of issues that are
foremost in people's minds, its reasonable to expect overlap between our
work group and others that the Core Group will have to reconcile.
Date, Time and Location of Next Scheduled Meeting:
Thursday, March 16, 2000, 7:00 ? 9:00 PM, Police Station (Really! )
Suzanne urged everyone to prepare for the meeting by referring to the
resource materials we were provided during our orientation meeting. We
have to begin planning the next stage of our activities, a public
outreach and production of the Draft Vision Statement, with specific
goals and measurements. The next issue is to decide methods for
conducting the public outreach.
Respectfully submitted,
Gary Fallick
P.S. In the March - April issue of the AMC Boston Chapter newsletter,
the Conservation Committee report is about Sprawl. There is mention of
pending legislation, the Community Preservation Act, which would provide
tools to communities to buy and preserve land for open space, conduct
historic preservation projects or invest in affordable housing. You can
express your support for this legislation by contacting your local
representative and senator at 617 722-2000.
The same article mentions the Mystic View Task Force in Somerville and a
presentation that was made about the analytical steps used to insure an
acceptable economic solution for the city while obtaining a reasonable
amount of open space. To learn more log on to
hLtp: //www.rhe—v3ii .comimv3ticview.
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