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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-10-08-2020-min2020 Vision Committee October 8, 2009 7:45 a.m. -9:00 a.m. Room G -15, Town Office Building In attendance: Chuck Benson, Peter Enrich, Ann Redmon, Fernando Quezada, Jane Warren, Peter Lee, Bhumip Khasnabish, George Burnell, Carl Valente, Candy McLaughlin, Brianna Olson Meeting began: 7:50 a.m. The committee approved the minutes, pending spelling corrections. Lexington Citizens' Academy: • The Academy is going well; there is a good mix of participants and they seem to be having fun. • Will there be photos available? • Is it possible to publicize the Academy along the way? It was suggested the Minuteman could be contacted. Jeri Zeder, a freelance writer for the Colonial Times, is a participant in the Citizens' Academy. • Chuck spoke about the opening session of the Academy, where he and Marian presented. It went well; they talked about the background of the committee, its themes and goals, and the importance of citizen outreach. • In terms of publicity, we should gather information on how the participants found out about the Academy, possibly during an end -of -the- semester evaluation. So far, participants have mentioned the Farmer's Market and the Minuteman ads the most. Futures Panel: • All speakers have been confirmed, and spoken to Fernando • There have been no comments on the lineup of speakers • There will be a conference call with the speakers, Fernando and Peter Enrich to discuss what they want each speaker to cover; if the conference call doesn't work, each speaker will be contacted individually • Briefing Bill Dailey will be important, so he can connect the topics together, especially for moderating the Q &A • We will continue using the current document of speakers and objectives as a working doc, but a more grabbing text will be developed for media outlets • There is some concern about low audience attendance, but the speakers are very good • The panel will focus on presentation, and listening will be a secondary component; there will be a time for feedback however (the panelists should know this in advance) • Carl suggested information on the panel could be sent to the TMMA website • George had several recommendations to make for the media releases: using a question as a provocative title, focusing on the speakers, focusing on the core constituency that has a long -term perspective on Lexington and then branching out from there, having a target message for other interested parties • Target groups were suggested: Schools (via the PTA presidents or Paul Ash), GWAC, Susan Yanofsky, health committees and the Council on Aging • It was suggested that a poster could be put at the Senior Center, the Library, and the Farmer's Market • Candy brought handouts of the demographics charts to be displayed. A few changes were suggested so that the charts were more easily readable. Native Plants and Invasive Species • There will be a planning of restoration and the use of native plants in landscaping at the Planning Board on October 14. • The loss of native plants is becoming a great concern, due to population growth, disruption for construction and development, plants that are taken are hard to grow, and the aggressive growth of invasive species. • There are no barriers to keep invasive species out of conservation areas, which is affecting wildlife in the area. • The Planning Board is developing regulations in the Hartwell Avenue area; one section of these regualtions will focus on the removal of invasive species and the use of native species in their development and landscaping. This is being strongly supported by the citizens. • The group Jane Warren is working with is developing a list of native and invasive species to be used as a model in future developments. Adjourn: 9:00 a.m.