Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-10-17 Joint SB, SC, PB and VFLC-min Joint Meeting of the Select Board, School Committee, Planning Board and Vision for Lexington Committee October 17, 2022 A remote participation joint meeting of the Lexington Select Board, School Committee, Planning Board and Vision for Lexington Committee was called to order at 6:35 p.m. on Monday, October 17, 2022 via hybrid meeting services. Present from the Select Board (SB): Mr. Lucente; Vice Chair, Mr. Pato, Ms. Barry, and Mr. Sandeen were present, as well as Mr. Malloy, Town Manager; Ms. Axtell, Deputy Town Manager; and Ms. Katzenback, Executive Clerk. Present From the Planning Board (PB): Mr. Peter, Chair; Mr. Schanbacher, Vice Chair; Mr. Creech; Mr. Hornig and Ms. Thompson. Present From the School Committee (SC): Ms. Cuthbertson, Chair; Ms. Sawhney, Vice Chair; Ms. Jay; Ms. Lenihan \[7:46pm arrival\]; Dr. Hackett, Superintendent of Schools. Present From the Vision for Lexington Committee (VFL): Ms. Coppe, Chair; Mr. Manasas, Mr. Wang; Ms. Lenihan; Mr. Sandeen and Mr. Peters. 1. Vision for Lexington Committee Presentation on the 2022 Town-Wide Survey Results Marian Cohen, Director of Social Research Framingham University, presented a topline summary of the Vision for Lexington Committee’s 2022 Town Wide Survey. She noted the goal of survey was to assess important issues to citizens, assess relative importance of issues and assess perception of Town responses to issues. Dr. Cohen stated that there were 2,404 responses to the questionnaire, which amounts to slightly under 10% of the eligible respondents in the community. This is two times the response rate from 2012, and almost 1.5 times that received in 2017. 46% of respondents were males. According to the census, the population of those male, 18+ in Town is almost 49%. 53% of respondents were female, and, according to the census, females account for about 51% of the population. The median age in the sample was between 50-59, and, according to the census, the median age of residents is between 45-54. Almost three quarters of respondents have at least a college degree, which is consistent with educational achievement in the population. There were some ways in which the sample differed from Town demographics, specifically 72% of the sample was white. According to the census, 62% of the population is white. 19% of the sample was Asian or South Asian. According to the census, 31% of the population is Asian, or South Asian. 2% of the sample was Hispanic and that is in line with the census 0.8% of the sample was black, and, according to the census, the population is 1.3% black. The sample had 4% of respondents who were multiracial or multiethnic, and, according to the census, that's 5%. 92% of respondents said the primary language spoken at home is English. The census says that's only 64%. 3.6% of respondents said the primary language spoken in their homes is one of the Asian or South Asian languages, and, according to the census, it's 21%. Dr. Cohen stated the following are the areas of interest/broad categories of the Survey: Economic Development; Public Education; Climate, Environmental Health, and Sustainability; Physical Character; Diversity Equity and Inclusion; Town Government and Town Services. Dr. Cohen explained that just over 70% of respondents said they are extremely to very satisfied with Lexington as a place to live. But approximately one quarter of respondents said life in Lexington is worse than it was five years ago. Those who responded life is worse cited these considerations: the character of the Town changing, too much construction, a lack of gathering places, insufficient economic diversity, too much focus on DEI, an intolerance of differences, loss of trees, restrictions on the handling of private property and open space, mansion-isation, lack of diversity in housing stock, too much traffic, too much noise, poor condition of the roads, declining educational quality, overcrowding in the schools, leadership issues in the schools, taxes make living here unaffordable, no local shopping options, lack of variety in shops, lack of vibrancy, leadership issues in Town government, receipt of fewer Town services, and a lack of planning in zoning. There are many issues that still need to be addressed, and several concerns expressed in 2012 and 2017 remain. These include the vibrancy and appeal of downtown, overcrowding in schools, students stress and mental health issues, house tear downs and mansion-istation, preservation of open space, road safety in terms of traffic lights road maintenance, taxes, affordability, and economic diversity. Mr. Creech (PB) asked if respondents were interested more in high-quality teachers or meeting the needs of all students. Dr. Cohen stated that both items received at least 85% on the survey. Ms. Lenihan (SC) stated that her concern is for resident who feel that they are in an ‘information desert.’ This seems to be a problem not only in Lexington, but across the entire country, regarding the death of traditional local media, such as a local newspaper. In response to a question from Ms. Sawhney (SC) regarding how many respondents used the survey in two Asian languages, Dr. Cohen stated that this was a very small percentage of respondents, approximately 30 paper copies were used. Ms. Sawhney noted that incoming families to Lexington may have more English language needs. Mr. Manasas (VFL) noted that the Vision for Lexington Committee completed a report on communication in Lexington. One of the recommendations made in that report was to combine the communications of the schools and the Town. Ms. Cuthbertson (SC) asked about age range specific data. Dr. Cohen stated that one of the dangers with parsing things out by different groups, is running the risk of pitting groups against one another, or having decisions made based on the needs and preferences of one group as opposed to another. If the school system is interested in that information, it might want to do a separate study. Ms. Jay (SC) asked if open-ended responses regarding concerns could be quantified to indicate what percentage of the respondents indicated the same concern. Dr. Cohen stated that analyzing qualitative data in that manner can be challenging and noted that they are available should anyone want to call them to discuss specifics of the report in further detail. Mr. Pato noted that responses to the open-ended questions aren't visible to readers of the report. This is a little challenging for policymakers. He communicated out to those viewers and respondents who have issues or concerns, that they contact the policymakers directly with those issues. The survey was not a vehicle to bring out the detail of those questions or issues to the Board’s attention. In response to a question from Mr. Pato regarding if the rate of participation in respondents regarding senior participation was relative to all respondents or relative only to seniors, Dr. Cohen stated that this was in relation to the whole, and respondents were asked whether they the respondent had participated or whether a family member had. Mr. Sandeen congratulated the team that the rate of response to this survey is almost double the response rate of previous surveys. Mr. Sandeen noted that most of the people who responded to this survey also voted in the most recent municipal election which only had 12% of registered voters voting. This means that the residents responding to this survey are residents who are highly focused on town government. Mr. Lucente suggested that one short term solution for the ‘information desert’ is for the Public Information Officer to be a recipient of communications from the Superintendent. Upon a motion duly made and seconded, by roll call, the Select Board voted 4-0 to accept the Vision for Lexington’s Report on the 2022 Town-Wide Survey. The Final Report on the Town-Wide 2022 Survey report can be found on the Vision for Lexington Committee Page on the Town of Lexington Website. ADJOURN VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, by roll call, the Vision for Lexington Committee, Select Board, Planning Board and School Committee, respectively, voted to adjourn the Joint meeting at 7:46 pm. The Select Board returned to the open session of their regularly scheduled meeting. A true record; Attest: Kristan Patenaude Recording Secretary