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Stakeholder Outreach
Vision Plan Implementation Progress
The Vision Planning Committee is tracking what has been done to achieve the goals of the Vision plan.
We are interested in identifying actions that have been taken that will help achieve the goals and
purposes including but not limited to the actions that are identified in the Vision Plan. This interview
will help the Committee start to track actions that have been taken or are in progress and we will ask for
another interview in about six months. From this, we will produce an annual Vision Plan implementation
report that will be presented to the Select Board and broader Brewster community.
At the same time, the Vision Planning Committee is working on the development of a Local
Comprehensive Plan which will build on the Vision Plan and include a targeted action plan.
The goal and purposes of the each building block have been provided to help facilitate the following
Q&A conversation.
Question 1: Since adoption of the Brewster Vision Plan in 2018, has your (organization/department)
seen specific progress on the goals of the Vision Plan for (insert Building Block, i.e Water Resources).
What specific actions have been taken or are in progress?
Question 2: What do you attribute to the successful implementation of specific goals and actions? For
goals and actions that have seen less progress, what have been the barriers to implementation?
Question 3: Since the adoption of the Vision Plan, has there been a shift in the priority of specific
actions from the Vision Plan? What kind of shift? Are there actions or items that were not in the Vison
Plan but that should be included in a Local Comprehensive Plan to achieve the same or similar goals
Question 4: How have Climate Change considerations altered or been integrated into what your
(organization/department) does? To what extent should Climate Change related goals and actions
receive priority status in the Comprehensive Plan’s targeted action plan?
Question 5: Do you have any specific recommendations for the Vision Planning Committee as they work
toward Vision Plan implementation and development of the Local Comprehensive Plan for Brewster?
12 TOWN OF BREWSTER VISION PLAN • 2018
Community Infrastructure
GOAL: Maintain and expand town infrastructure in ways that expand
opportunities for community interaction, support the development
of a “green” economy, expand recreation opportunities, and promote
public safety.
PURPOSE 3
Provide active recreation opportunities and
facilities including those for youth
1.Sur vey the community (all ages) to identify
desired activities and programming.
2. Inventory existing facilities and identify potential
locations for new facilities such as a community
pool, pickleball, volleyball and basketball courts.
3. Expand and promote existing and future active
recreational (seasonal and year-round) programs.
4.Research potential ways to provide transportation
to recreation areas.
PURPOSE 1
Create a community center to house activities and interaction for people of all ages
1. Form a committee to facilitate the process and hold public meetings for community input.
2. Conduct a feasibility/location study to identify the best location for a community center.
3. Repurpose an existing facility (such as Eddy School). Utilize neighboring town
experience (such as Harwich) as a model.
4. Develop uses and programming, with activities for all ages, for the proposed facility.
PURPOSE 2
Expand the bike and pedestrian trails and paths for recreation and transportation
throughout town
1. Develop a town wide plan that includes all existing trails and sidewalks, potential
areas for expansion, trail connections and links to key recreation areas, bay beaches and
west Brewster.
2.Identify areas of improvement for existing trails and sidewalks such as signage, safety,
and lighting and provide more bicycle safety information.
3.Make the town more bicycle/pedestrian friendly by providing information on the
trail system.
4.Review and modify existing policies and development guidelines to require (where
possible) sidewalks and bike lanes on new roads and re-pavement projects.
Examples of stakeholders
• Planning Department, Planners, Architects
• Building Department, Department of Public Works
• Water Dept., Recreation Dept., School Dept.
• Historical Commission
• Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority
• School Committee, parents and students
• All Citizens Access Committee
• Bikeways Committee, Bike Shops
• Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation
• Brewster Ladies Library, Churches, Council on Aging
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BREWSTER VISION ADVISORY GROUP
SUMMARY PAPER
COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE
OCTOBER 2017
I. Background
Overview
The term community infrastructure is meant to encompass the variety of physical infrastructure
and facilities that the town and other community organizations provide for public purposes.
The June vision workshops showed the considerable value the participants placed in
community infrastructure for recreation, public gatherings, and alternative transport.
Frequently mentioned specific places included the bike trail, the Ladies Library, Drummer Boy
Park, Nickerson State Park, and the Stony Brook Grist Mill. However, the most frequently
mentioned infrastructure issue, by far, was a community center, combined with a new location
for the Council on Aging. Participants expressed interest in having a place for community
gatherings and events and where people of all ages could interact. Bike trails and sidewalks for
recreation and as a means of alternative transport around town were the second most
frequently mentioned infrastructure.
The Vision Committee conducted a supplemental survey with 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at the Eddy
School to determine their priorities. While many of the issues they identified were similar to the
general workshop findings, the need for active recreation sites such as skateboard parks, sports
fields, and swimming pools stood out.
Community infrastructure is, in many ways, a building block that supports many of the other
building blocks, particularly community character, economy, and coastal management (beach
access). This paper will focus on the issues of the community center and bike and pedestrian
ways as the two highest priorities.
Current status
a. Community space
A variety of facilities are currently used for public meetings and gatherings. The main locations
include the Ladies Library (meetings and events), the Brewster Baptist Church (elections and
workshops), the Council on Aging (senior activities), the Eddy School (recreation), the Stony
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Brook School (Town meeting). Town Hall is used primarily for official board and committee
meetings. There is no multi-purpose facility which allows a variety of uses and interactions.
Town facilities for active recreation are spread out throughout the town. They include the
Freeman’s Way ball and soccer fields, the Town Hall ball fields, Gage Field (behind the Fire
Station), and the community tennis courts off Underpass Road.
b. Bike and pedestrian ways
The Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT) stretches 7 miles from south central Brewster to the northeast
line with Orleans, linking to the entire 22 miles of paved bike/pedestrian trail. The CCRT is one
of the most actively used recreational features in Brewster and serves as a center piece of
Brewster’s “green economy.” In the summer, it also serves as a way for visitors and summer
workers to get around the town.
Recent re-paving projects in Brewster have expanded both biking and pedestrian access around
town. The Rt. 6A repaving in 2016 expanded the sidewalks in the center of town for bicyclists
and pedestrians. There are now 7 miles of sidewalks along Rt. 6A from Nickerson State Park to
Stony Brook Rd.
Also in 2016, the Town completed the re-paving of Underpass and Snow Roads, extending the
sidewalks and creating narrow bike lanes. The Underpass design may serve as a model for
future re-paving of town roads. At a cost of $3 million, this project was completed using part of
the $10 million bond that was approved by Town meeting in 2015. The next priority for road
bond funds is Millstone Road to include re-surfacing and pedestrian and bike improvements,
yet to be specifically defined.
The Town also receives approximately $400,000 annually of Chapter 90 funds for road
improvements. Over $1 million of these funds have been accumulated over several years. The
next target for Chapter 90 funded improvements is Highway 137, including re-surfacing and
accommodating bike and pedestrian traffic.
While there have been recent improvements in bike and pedestrian access around town and
more are planned, access remains problematic, particularly if road design is the primary avenue
for expanding access. The main challenge to expanding bike and pedestrian ways is the narrow
width of Brewster’s roads—both the pavement and the rights-of-way—which do not allow for
easy addition of sidewalks and/or bike lanes. The extent of wetlands along town roads also
constitutes a constraint on expanding road ways to accommodate bike and pedestrian facilities.
On the larger roads, speed limits also dictate design standards: the higher the speed limit, the
greater need for separation (distance or curbing) of vehicles and pedestrians or bicyclists.
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Table 1: Summary of Roadway Ownership in Brewster
Ownership Length
gravel
(mi)
Length
paved
(mi)
Total length
(mi)
% of total
Town-owned streets 10 54 64 31%
MassDOT-owned streets NA 16 16 8%
Private/unaccepted streets 42 83 125 61%
Total 52 153 205 100%
Source: Brewster Pavement Management Plan, 2015
A considerable portion of Brewster’s road network is made up of private roads, which creates a
degree of management confusion. The Town generally plows private roads, sweeps private
paved roads, and provides some help with signage. However, creating public access (for a
walking trail or identified bike route) requires getting easements from each landowner, which is
a long and complex procedure.
The fundamental challenge to expanding bike and pedestrian access in town is how to create
connectivity: to link places around town without relying solely on the public road layout.
Recent actions in town
a.Community space
In 2009, the Town proposed to sell Town Hall to the Lighthouse Charter School and move town
administration to the Eddy School and create a community center there. However, planning for
this action was stopped when the State Board of Education refused to allow the conversion of a
school for which state capital loan funds were still being reimbursed. The Town has since
completed reimbursement of state loans and the Eddy School is mentioned as a potential site
for a community center. The Recreation department is currently housed there. More discussion
is needed with the School Committee about consolidating Eddy and Stony Brook Schools before
a solution is found.
The Town’s five year Capital Plan 2018-2023 identifies a feasibility study for a combined Council
on Aging (COA) and community center in 2019 and possible construction in 2021. The recently
completed COA needs assessment, The Future of Aging, indicates that many of the respondents
to the survey and participants in focus groups, which were the basis for the study, preferred a
community center in which COA would be housed.
b.Bike and pedestrian ways
In 2015, the Town completed a Pavement Management Plan which assessed the conditions of
Brewster’s roads and the long term financial liabilities of the road network and recommended
improvements. Based on that assessment, the Town approved a $10 million road bond in 2015.
The bond proceeds funded the repaving and improvements of Underpass Road at a cost of $3
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million in 2016-17. The next priority for repaving and bike and pedestrian improvements is
Millstone Road and the remaining funds will be used for general roadway improvements
around town.
The Rt. 6A re-paving and improvements were completed in 2017 and funded entirely the State.
In 2016, the Board of Selectmen approved Biking Brewster: a strategy to enhance biking in
Brewster, prepared by the Bikeways Committee. The strategy identifies alternative biking
routes for transport and recreation, proposes safety improvements, and recommends public
education measures.
The Town also completed a Beach Access strategy, which includes expanding bike and
pedestrian access to town landings as a way to reduce the need for more beachfront parking.
In 2017, Town Meeting approved $100,000 for the installation of warning lights at the four
CCRT crossings in town: Rt. 124, Rt. 137, Underpass Road, and Millstone Road, a
recommendation of the Biking Brewster strategy. The lights will be installed in Spring 2018 and
are intended to enhance safety at the crossings.
The Town’s Natural Resources Department has made a proposal to the State Department of
Conservation and Recreation to create a Rail Trail spur from the current location near the
entrance to Nickerson State Park to the beach between Crosby and Linnell landings to expand
bike and pedestrian access to the beach.
II. Key issues moving forward
How should the Town proceed to examine options for a multi-use community center?
How aggressively should the town promote connectivity off of roadways (for example on Town
land from Underpass Rd to the Stony Brook School to the Eddy School to Rt. 6A near Town Hall,
or along Eversource’s rights-of-way)?
III. Draft Vision Goal
Draft Goal: Maintain and expand town infrastructure in ways that expand opportunities for
community interaction, support the development of a “green” economy, expand recreation
opportunities, and promote public safety.
Purposes:
1.Create a community center to house activities and interaction for people of all ages.
2.Expand the bike and pedestrian trails and paths for recreation and transport throughout the
town.
3. Provide active recreation opportunities and facilities, including for youth.
Taking Action Turning the Plan into action
The Vision Plan is intended to be a living document, guiding the near- and long-term decisions
on which our community’s future is built. Therefore, it is imperative that the goals guide
actions of Town government and community organizations and that the relevant stakeholders
play their part in implementing the actions presented in the Plan. Implementation will involve
figuring out the details and making the actions work in the context of town capacity, financial
and fiscal constraints, and the legal framework for town action. Overall, the Select Board,
Town Boards and Committees, and citizens through Town Meeting will oversee turning the Plan
into action. Implementation will be most effective if there is a true partnership between town
government and the community to assure that the goals laid out in the Plan are reached.
What the community can do to promote the implementation of the Vision Plan.
TOWN GOVERNMENT
Adopt the Vision Plan as a formal action of the Select Board
and assign responsibility for implementation.
Communicate the Vision Plan, including important milestones
and progress towards implementation through a variety of
traditional and innovative vehicles.
Make the Vision Plan a guide for policymaking and town decisions
(budgeting, town warrant articles, town mission statement).
Engage Town department heads and town staff to take owner-
ship of the Vision Plan and integrate it into their daily work and
future plans; restructure and reorganize staffing as needed.
Create a Vision Implementation Committee to shepherd and
oversee implementation and to keep the Vision Plan in the
forefront of Town priorities, including ongoing stakeholder
involvement.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
Embrace the Vision Plan, organize meetings and other communications
to build awareness and understanding about the Vision Plan.
Use the Vision Plan to guide organizational plans, take on Vision Plan
projects related to organizational mission for implementation or
collaboration with Town.
Help foster two-way communication with the Town, organize meetings
and other forms of communication to educate people about issues and
provide feedback.
CITIZENS
Work together to create a culture of engagement, talk with friends and
neighbors, make a difference.
Act, vote, attend meetings.
Get involved in a Vision Plan issue, volunteer.
TOWN OF BREWSTER VISION PLAN • 2018 13