HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-02-11-2020-min (Steering Committee)
Meeting Notes
Steering Committee – February 11, 2000
Members Present:
Heather Sweeney, Fred Merrill, Peggy Perry, Peter Enrich, Alan Lazarus, Paul Mammola,
Chuck Benson, Marjorie Platt, Fernando Quezada, Todd Burger
Consultants Present:
Suzanne Orenstein, Wendy Rundle
Staff Present:
Rick White, Candy McLaughlin, Monicka Tutschka
Handouts:
CPG March 2 nd Visioning Agenda
Working Group Memo
LHS student list
Call to order
Approval of Meeting Minutes from January 28, 2000
Steering Committee liaison reports on the status of their Working Groups
Steering Committee liaisons are encouraged to attend as many of their work group meetings as possible, however,
all members recognize that many liaisons have other commitments and responsibilities to which they frequently
need to attend.
Margie Platt and Alan Lazarus reported on the status of the Productive Connections Between Citizens and Town
Work Group. Their work plan has been completed. Although the group is focusing on the future use of technology
and the possibility of hiring a specialized employee to help bridge the citizen and town communication gap, the
group, Margie and Alan stated, tend to fall into discussions pertaining primarily to present day concerns. Rick
White believed that there were several directions that this Work Group could take and he suggested that they look to
see how other communities are ensuring proper Town/Citizen connections.
Peggy Perry reported on the progress of the Educational Excellence Work Group. She believes they are on track,
however, in order to stay on track and complete their environmental scans, the group needs certain documents and
materials. Candy had forwarded the requests for material to the school staff. Candy also stated that the school staff
could not participate in meetings on Tuesday because of scheduling conflicts.
Peter Enrich spoke on behalf of the Sense of Community Work Group. They are presently gathering data for their
environmental scans and he thinks that they are relatively in good shape.
Todd Burger reported on the Managing Transportation Work Group. Ms. Uhrig has agreed to become a member of
the group and Ms. McGiver should also be invited. Although several work group members express radical and even
opposing views, Todd was confident that they would find a rational middle ground. The group is struggling with the
question of how much detail they ought to include in their environmental scan.
Heather Sweeney and Fred Merrill spoke about the progress of the Managing Growth Work Group. Their Work Plan
has been submitted. The appropriate definition of the term “sustainability” has captured their attention on more than
one occasion and they might attempt to clarify what this term is supposed to mean. The group is quite engaged in
their topic and the energy level is high.
Web-site
The web-site has accessibility problems. The staff agreed to email materials to the Steering Committee liaisons
describing the limitations of habama.com. Steering Committee members are welcome to ask further questions about
habama and its services at the next SC meeting.
Work Plans
With the exception of the Educational Excellence Work Plan, all others are in and will be mailed or emailed to the
Steering Committee members for their review and comment.
Suggested Work Group plenum Meeting
Chuck Benson suggested scheduling a well structured meeting for all Work Group participants. The meeting would
enable members from different work groups to talk to each other about their respective projects and it might help
bring all the work groups into alignment. Rick White suggested that this meeting occur after the environmental
scans are completed.
Work Group Memo
The memo was distributed for review. Prior to sending out the materials, the 2020 Vision web address will be
added, the open meeting posting /minutes requirements will be further clarified and the limitations to the web-site
will be acknowledged.
New Members
The following members have officially been added to the Work Groups:
Dianne McGiver_ Transportation
Judy Uhrig: Transportation
Donald Cobb: Educational Excellence
Markus Pinney: Managing Growth
It was noted that the business community was somewhat under represented in the Work Groups and further attempts
should be made to encourage their participation. Joe Marino supplied the Steering Committee with two more
possible businesspeople: Dick Benam and Jeff Goldberg.
LHS Students
A list of students who are interested in becoming Work Group members was distributed. Students were matched up
with Work Groups in the following manner:
Alex Kieft and Lily Rayman-Reed: Sense of Community
Rachel Skerry: Productive Connections
Peter Behrevesh: Transportation
Josh Murray: Growth
Alyssa Rosenberg and Corrina Simon: Educational Excellence
Laura Frascatore and Nathan Pierce: Fiscal Stability
Chuck Benson agreed to ask the Chair of the Fiscal Stability Work Group if he and his work group would agree to
include high school students in their group.
An orientation for these students will be held on Thursday, February 17, 2000 during X block at LHS. Another
attempt will be made to encourage other LHS students to participate.
March 2 CPG Visioning Exercise
Work Group members are invited to attend this meeting as observers (not as outspoken participants) of the CPG
exercise. Discussion then turned to the distributed Visioning Exercise Agenda. Peter Enrich felt that the proposed
break-out questions as they stood stepped on the toes of the Sense of Community Work Group. He suggested a new
question that would run something like, “As we plan for the future, how should conflicts between divergent views
be resolved.” Other SC members agreed with Peter’s suggestion. Fernando emphasized the need to be clear.
February 17, 2000 Futures Panel
Candy reported that Cable Vision will attend, an audio tape will be created, and a reporter from the Globe will most
likely make an appearance.
Ajourn