HomeMy Public PortalAboutVision Planning Committee -- 2021-03-01 Minutes TOWN OF BREWSTER VISION PLANNING COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES -
Tuesday, March 1, 2021 at 4PM
Virtual Meeting
Hal Minis, Chairman , convened the Brewster Vision Planning Committee via remote participation with members :
Patricia Hess, Andi Genser, Fran Schofield , Sue Searles, and Sharon Tennstedt and Kari Hoffmann , Paul Wallace, Garran
Peterson . A quorum was determined .
Also present : Sharon Rooney (Tighe & Bond ) , Honey Pivirotto ( FinCom Liaison ) , Ryan Bennett (Town Planner) , and Ellen
Murphy ( Department Assistant ) .
The Chair read the Recording or Taping Notification : This meeting will be conducted by remote participation pursuant to
Governor Baker' s March 2020 orders suspending certain Open Meeting Law provisions and imposing limits on public
gatherings . No in - person meeting attendance will be permitted . If the Town is unable to live broadcast this meeting, a record
of the proceedings will be provided on the Town website as soon as possible . The Town has established specific email
addresses for each board and committee so the public can submit comments either before or during the meeting . To submit
public comment or questions to the Vision Planning Committee, please email : brewplan@brewster- ma . gov.
• Review and Approval of February 16, 2021 meeting minutes :
Hal asked the Committee if they had any comments on the February 16th meeting minutes . There being no
comments, Sue Searles made a motion to approve the minutes, Sharon Tennstedt second the motion , Hal
took a roll call and the minutes were approved unanimously .
• Technical Discussion with Tighe & Bond on 1 -2 -3 Survey Tool .
Sharon Rooney asked the Committee for feedback on the tool . She indicated that from her discussions with
Ryan she heard there were challenges . The majority of the Committee had accessed the tool . Kari indicated
the tool was a bit clunky trying to find an address . She asked if there was a locate indicator that would make
it easier to determine the location . She suggested linking the mobile phone locator capability with the app .
Sharon indicated that she would take notes of the Committee' s feedback and circle back with them . She
reminded the Committee that the goal was to make it as easy as possible . The Committee discussed the pin
dropping feature and some of the challenges encountered . Kari also suggested an email pin pad be
accessible to make it easier to enter an email address . Sharon Tennstedt indicated that she had difficulty
with the application kicking her out . The Committee discussed the challenges when submitting multiple
pictures . Sharon Rooney suggested to take all the pictures, then download them and submit the form . Hal
provided some helpful suggestions to the form , such as, moving the email request at the end of the form ,
definitions of placetypes and changing " improvements" to "changes" . Ryan also suggested requiring a name
built into the form rather than anonymous . Garran agreed it will provide more constructive pictures and
comments . Kari questioned the best way to access the tool and Sharon Rooney indicated that it would be
accessible by a link on the Town webpage, or perhaps on the newsletter, no log in will be required , however
someone will have to monitor to ensure there isn ' t any inappropriate comments . For now, Ellen will send a
dedicated email including the link to the Committee for easy access .
• Mapping Discussion with Tighe & Bond :
Sharon Rooney reminded the Committee that the maps are draft and they may appear very busy . She
indicated they are working on a way to view layers and encouraged the Committee to continue to provide
feedback . Ryan stated that these are useful tools to get familiar with the resource layers available and as
Sharon stated more to come . Hal asked Sharon Rooney what types of questions will the maps address .
Sharon responded that the Committee needs to view from a public perspective and ask themselves what the
public would want to know . Ryan reminded the Committee the maps are a visual tool to determine growth
areas and land use policies . They need to understand the intersection of sensitive areas, open space, water
resources, developed areas, etc . The maps will support land use policies and how the recommendations
were determined . Sue commented that when this is rolled out for public use there has to be some basic
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information provided to educate the public . Sharon Rooney talked about story maps as a tool to "tell a
story" of your LCP that includes text and images . It could be a very useful tool to communicate to the public
and get the message out . Sharon Rooney will send out a link to access .
• Vision Plan Implementation Task
a ) Stakeholder Outreach Process Discussion
Hal asked the Committee members that attended the February 24th Planning Board meeting to discuss
the experience . Garran discussed Community Character, he indicated the questions were a bit quirky
but they were helpful and they received very good feedback from the Planning Board and a very positive
experience . Kari agreed that it was a great opportunity to hear from the Planning Board . Paul Wallace
thought the questions were very helpful . Sue slightly modified the questions after observing Kari and
Garran ' s presentation to the Planning Board . She highlighted that more than once "educating the
public" was raised as a concern . Andi stated that it was very helpful to hear from the other Committee
members and it was evident that all of the building blocks are interconnected . It was decided that the
questions should be simplified and Hal asked Sue and Andy to take another cut at the questions and
send them to Ryan and Ellen . Kari suggested that an updated Stakeholder list be sent out . Ellen will date
the most recent and re -distribute . Ryan and Ellen will follow up with the Committees and Boards to
schedule Committee members on their agendas . A member of the public, Rhianna Hastings asked the
Committee if the public could give feedback on the stakeholder list . Hal indicated that at this time we
have a preliminary list but she can email any suggestions to Ryan for future expansion of the list . Garran
suggested the stakeholder list and the questions be available on the Town website . Hal agreed once the
questions have been finalized we will post both . Kari suggested that the public be invited to respond to
the questions once it is posted to the Town website .
• Communications Update :
Fran stated that Hal provided a draft of the annual report which has been finalized and sent to the Town
Administrator' s office . Hal indicated that he used the materials from the Select Board presentation .
• Review Action Items from February 16th Meeting :
Patricia provided an update on the action items from the February 16th meeting . She indicated that the
only outstanding items were on -going items and content of the newsletter . Fran asked about timing for the
newsletter and how to determine content . Hal suggested once the majority of the initial Stakeholder
meetings are complete we will have a better idea . It will be an agenda item next month . Fran suggested
the first newsletter be very simple, similar to the annual report recently submitted . The Committee
discussed the various types of communication and what to deliver .
• Next Meeting :
Monday, March 15, 2021 .
• Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair :
Kari asked about the timeline for meeting with the Group A Stakeholders . Ryan suggested based on the
changes to the questions we secure placeholders on the Board and Committee agendas . At the next
meeting the Committee should review the changes to the questions and have a plan to complete all
Stakeholder outreach by mid -April . Hal suggested that since the questions are only slightly altered it is best
to move forward as soon as possible . Ryan added if that is the case then the Stakeholder Outreach packet
should be scaled down to only included items 2 -5 , which is enough material to orient the Stakeholders .
Ellen will break out the materials and re -send a condensed version . Sharon suggested when meeting with
Group B individuals it makes sense to speak on the phone to ensure they understand the questions .
Patricia asked about items that were not previously brought to the attention of the Committee, for example
there is a lot of discussion in the Town around energy, specifically solar. Hal indicated there was a Climate
question to faciliate feedback on energy issues, but it may need to be refined to be more specific . Hal
suggested the Committee send their comments regarding how to address energy in the Town to Ryan .
A motion was made by Kari Hoffmann to adjourn the meeting, Sue Searles second the motion , a roll call vote was taken
and the meeting was unanimously adjourned at 5 : 23 . Vote : 7 -0-0 .
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