HomeMy Public PortalAboutVPC 03/21/22 Meeting Packet
Town of Brewster Vision Planning Committee
2198 Main St., Brewster, MA 02631
brewplan@brewster-ma.gov
(508) 896-3701
MEETING AGENDA
Remote Participation Only
Monday, March 21, 2022 at 3:30 PM
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 meeting may be viewed by: Live broadcast (Brewster Government TV Channel 18), Livestream (livestream.brewster-
ma.gov), or Video recording (tv.brewster-ma.gov).
Meetings may be joined by:
1. Phone: Call (929) 436-2866 or (301) 715-8592. Zoom Meeting ID: 819 3038 8203 and Passcode 317154
To request to speak: Press *9 and wait to be recognized.
2. Zoom Webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81930388203?pwd=VHEvUURMM1ZFdUJNREJIbEN3SFdOZz09 and enter Passcode 317154
To request to speak: Tap Zoom “Raise Hand” button or type “Chat” comment with your name and address, then wait to
be recognized.
Vision Planning
Committee
Hal Minis
Chair
Sharon Tennstedt
Vice Chair
Amanda Bebrin
Andi Genser
Patricia Hess
Suzanne Kenney
Fran Schofield
Paul Wallace
Administrative
Assistant
Ellen Murphy
Select Board
Liaison
Kari Hoffmann
Finance Committee
Liaison
Honey Pivirotto
1. Call to Order
2. Declaration of a Quorum
3. Meeting Participation Statement
4. Review and Approval of March 7, 2022 Minutes
5. Brewster Housing Production Plan Update
6. Updates on public engagement activities
a) Discussion of survey results
7. Status of summary papers
8. Action planning teams and schedule
9. Communication – review current and future actions
10. Update of LCP roadmap
11. Status report on Tighe and Bond tasks
12. Discussion on in-person, hybrid or virtual meetings
13. Items for the next meeting agenda
14. Review Action Items from March 7th meeting
15. Next Meeting: Monday, April 4th
16. Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair
17. Adjournment
Date Posted: Date Revised: Received by Town Clerk:
3/15/2022 3/17/2022
Page 1 of 3
TOWN OF BREWSTER VISION PLANNING COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
Monday, March 7, 2022, at 3:30PM
Virtual Meeting
Hal Minis, Chair, convened the Brewster Vision Planning Committee via remote participation with members: Sharon
Tennstedt, Amanda Bebrin, Suzanne Kenney, Fran Schofield, Andi Gesner and Patricia Hess were present. Paul Wallace
was absent. A quorum was determined.
Also present: Kari Hoffmann, and Ellen Murphy.
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 22nd meeting minutes:
Andi made a motion to approve the February 22nd meeting minutes, Sharon seconded the motion, a roll call was
taken, and the February 22nd meeting minutes were approved unanimously.
Updates of public engagement activities:
a)Preliminary discussion on survey results:
Hal thanked Sharon Tennstedt for all her effort for a very successful survey. He informed the Committee
that they would not go into the details of the survey results but will be discussing how to interpret the
results. At a future date, the Committee will go through a more detailed discussion of the survey results.
Hal turned the meeting over to Sharon who informed the Committee there were 2312 completed surveys,
which is a 25% response rate. Sharon referred to the two documents included in the meeting packet. She
started with the results and data interpretation document that outlined the degree of importance for Open
Space and Housing which were the two most contrasted ratings. She highlighted the results and discussed
the standard deviation which measured the spread of ratings. She stated a very low standard deviation < 1
indicates the spread of answers are clustered in one area meaning most people picked the same answer.
She then highlighted the Housing questions which display a higher standard deviation indicating the answers
were spread across the answers with people selecting both agree, disagree, and strongly disagree which
caused much more variability. Sharon focused on the demographics comparing against the Town census
data. She indicated the survey results were reasonably close to the Town census data. The age group
between 60-80 had the highest respond rate. She indicated that full-time and part-time residents were well
represented. Sharon stated that the survey results were under-represented by renters, with 3.4% of the 8%
renter population but there were over 200 business owners that completed the survey. Hal indicated there
were more full-time residents responding to the survey this time than the prior survey. Sharon moved on to
the next document which listed the comments for each of the Building Blocks. She stated this document will
be useful to the Building Block teams reviewing materials to identify priority actions. She highlighted some
of the general comments particularly the increase of traffic on 6A and not increasing Town expenditures
specifically taxes. Sharon expressed a concern that the public is confused with the term “affordable
housing” and going forward it is important to educate the public on what the Town has done to date and
what is in the planning stage.
b)Discuss pop up results:
Andi provided an update on the 3 pop-ups. She informed the Committee that holding the pop-up outside
Ferretti’s was beneficial because they were able to reach out to everyone who entered the store. There was
no need to set up a tent. Andi indicated that the concerns they heard from the public at the pop-ups
echoed the comments provided in the survey. Sharon informed the Committee that even though options
Page 2 of 3
for a Town Center were provided, the comments, both from the survey and the pop-ups, regarding the
Town Center revolved around a geographical center of town and not locations of activities and businesses.
Fran suggested to add the word “Activity Center” which might get away from the geographical sense of a
Town Center. Suzanne and Hal agreed with Andi that standing in front of Ferretti’s was a good location. The
Committee agreed that for future pop-ups locating at the entrance is a good way to reach the public.
c)Discuss design of focus group activity:
Hal referred to the voice survey questionnaire script targeting the under 40 audience and asked for a status.
Amanda shared with the Committee she conducted 4 interviews and have additional people she has
identified. Suzanne completed 2 interviews, with a 3rd to schedule. Hal asked the Committee if they felt the
need to continue or let the written survey results speak for themselves. Sharon asked if conducting the
voice surveys were providing additional information. The Committee felt that the issues of Housing and Jobs
were a common theme throughout the interviews and comments from the survey and additional voice
surveys were not adding much value at this time. Kari suggested the Housing survey may be of value. Hal
indicated that the Housing Production Plan that is currently being updated will be a very good data source as
well.
Action planning teams and schedule:
Hal stated next steps is the analysis stage. He shared a conversation with Town Administration, Sharon
Tennstedt and Sharon Rooney, informing the Committee that these conversations will be a regularly scheduled
to discuss the status of the Committee activities and how it fits into Town activities. Hal reminded the
Committee that after the analysis is performed the Committee will be working with teams from the Town and
not-for-profits to get their take on achievable actions. The Committee is tasked to come up with draft ideas for
targetable actions under each Building Block. Town Administration suggested LCP guidelines under the Cape
Cod Commission speak to action plans for physical development of the Town, investments and regulatory
change and we need to think about all changes that are necessary to achieve the goals of the Vision Plan in the
LCP. Hal stated reviewing the data, which is substantial, should not be rushed. He suggested planning multiple
sessions to discuss the analysis and mapping exercise with Tighe and Bond face-to-face. Town Administration
may open up to face-to-face meetings in the April or May timeframe. Hal will be sending out the school
consolidation project information to the Committee. Everyone has signed up for action teams by Building Block
and they should start to review data over the next couple of weeks.
Communication – review current and future actions:
Fran stepped through the press release included in the meeting packet. The document acknowledged a
remarkable turnout for the survey, thanked participants, provide participants where the survey fits into the
process and next steps. Fran asked the Committee for feedback. Patricia asked if it was going to be posted on
the Town website. Hal suggested it go out to the local media, Town website and email networks that were
originally sent out to announce the survey. Fran and the Committee reviewed the press release and suggested
updates to the format. Hal will send Fran a marked-up version. Hal informed the Committee that he submitted
the VPC annual report which basically includes the updates to the Select Board.
Update on LCP roadmap and status report on Tighe and Bond tasks:
Hal provided an update on the summary papers. He indicated currently there is a 1st draft of the Building Block
summary papers with most having an internal review completed, with the exception of the Land Use draft,
which requires additional work from Tighe and Bond. Hal provided other updates on the summary papers and
indicated they are all in good shape. Town Administration suggested Town staff perform a high-level review to
ensure completeness and accuracy. Ellen will be coordinating the feedback on the Town’s OneDrive system.
Task teams will get the full final version after the Town review and feedback is incorporated. For the final LCP
Tighe and Bond will condense the summary papers into a two-pager of key issues which will be the version the
public sees in the LCP. This process will provide good quality documents. Tighe and Bond has produced a
summary of the Housing Production Plan which Hal will send out. The current Housing Production Plan update
is underway. Paul Rushinshas, who originally wrote the Housing summary paper also wrote the Housing
Production Plan and has reviewed the updated Housing summary paper, so they are aligned.
Page 3 of 3
Long Pond Planning Committee liaison:
Amanda has been appointed for the Sea Camps Bayside property. Hal has volunteered to be the Sea Camps
Long Pond Planning Committee Liaison and will notify Town Administration and the Select Board.
Items for next meeting agenda:
Andi asked for some clarification on analyzing the interview material. Hal suggested focusing on what has been
done and what should be next according to the interviewee.
Review Action Items from February 22nd meeting:
Patricia informed the Committee that there were no other outstanding action items.
Next Meeting: Monday, March 21st.
Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair: none
Sharon made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Amanda second the motion, the meeting was unanimously adjourned at
4:49 pm.
YOU WERE OFF THE CHARTS!
Brewster Vision Planning Committee
Announces Record 25% Participation in
Brewster’s “Next Steps” Survey
The Brewster Vision Planning Committee is pleased to announce that a record-breaking 25% of
eligible Brewster residents participated in our recent online and “pop up” survey! THANK YOU!
We heard your ideas and concerns on issues like Community Character, Water Resources,
Open Space, Housing, Economy, and Climate Change. Renters, second homeowners, year-
round residents – 2,312 of you participated and voiced your opinions. We are beyond
grateful for your interest, concern, and involvement.
These survey results will inform the town’s first local comprehensive plan which will align with
the goals and objectives of the Cape Cod Commission’s Cape Cod Regional Policy Plan.
Stay tuned for the next phase of our community planning process. Visit the town website at
brewster-ma.gov for more information.
Actions VPC Meeting March 7 2022
Action Responsibility Time
Send School consolidation report and
Chamber of Commerce analysis to all
Hal March 21
Revise communication “press release” to be
sent to member networks and post on town
web site and send to all (see below) for
distribution
Fran and Hal ASAP
Send Housing Production Plan to all Hal March 21
Next Meeting All March 21
Organization/non-profits /Town committees Responsibility
Town Committee and Town Dept. Heads e mails Ellen
Director Ch. Of Commerce Paul
Conservation Trust Hal
Ponds coalition Hal
Part time resident association Amanda
Brewster Baptist Church Hal
UU Church Patricia
Our Lady of the Cape Ellen
Brewster Community Network Amanda
Whitecaps Sue
Captains Golf Patricia
BLL Newsletter Sharon
Brewster Historical Society Hal
COA Sharon
Schools for backpacks Amanda
Sharon and Ellen will handle communication with our Sea Camps e mail list separately
Kari will arrange for Communication to Brewster town Website
Ellen, will you send to the Cape Codder please.