HomeMy Public PortalAbout10-23-2012 info presentation wellnessMichael J. Driscoll
Town Manager
To:
From:
Date:
TOWN OF
WATERTOWN
Office of the Town Manager
Administration Building
149 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
Phone: 617-972-6465
Fax: 617-972-6404
www.watertown-ma.gov
townmgr@watertown-ma.gov
Honorable Town Council
Michael J. Driscoll, Town Manager
October 18, 2012
RE: Agenda Item — Informational Presentation
As a follow-up to the attached Community Transformation Grant program award letter
from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and related background correspondence
from Steven Magoon, Director of Community Development & Planning, I respectfully request
an Informational Presentation be placed on the October 23, 2012 Town Council Agenda. The
Informational Presentation will be on the Health and Wellness Report for Watertown and will be
given by Steven Magoon, Director of Community Development & Planning and Michelle Moon,
Planning Intern.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
cc: Department Heads
I; it Regional Collabattatiori
PC
METROPOLITAN AREA PLANNING COUNCIL
March 21, 2012
Mr. Michael Driscoll
Town Manager
Town of Watertown
149 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
Dear Mr. Driscoll,
Thank you very much for your wellness grant proposal for the Community Transformation Grant
program. I am very pleased to let you know that your proposal has been approved for funding from
the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and Massachusetts Department of Public Health. We deeply
appreciate your commitment to improve the public health of residents of your community.
Your total award for implementation is $8,750.
The award funds may only be used by Watertown to implement activities as stated in your proposal
which includes integrating health elements and guidelines to improve the wellness in the community
by increasing tobacco -free multi -unit housing, supporting opportunities for physical activity, and
expanding access to healthy foods. In addition, you will be eligible to take advantage of technical
assistance that will be provided by MAPC, MDPH, and other contracted organizations.
We will provide a grant package and additional details very shortly. The grant package will include
the contract and other important grant information. As authorizing signatures will be required, please
notify appropriate authorities in your communities so that they will be prepared to cooperate with you
in assuring a smooth and timely start-up. MAPC will be solely responsible for all outreach to the
media and we would appreciate you refraining from talking to the press about this or scheduling any
public announcements without first consulting with MAPC, whose staff will be happy to coordinate
with you on a collaborative publicity and outreach effort.
If you have any questions about your Wellness Grant award, please contact me at 617-451-2770 x
2050 or marcava@mapc.org
Mariana Arcaya
Public Health Manager
Metropolitan Area Planning Council
60 Temple Place, Boston, MA 02111 • 617-451-2770 • Fax 617-482-7185 • www.mapc.org
Jay Ash, President • Michelle Cluck Vice -President • Marilyn Commas, Secretary • Grace S. Shepard, Treasurer • Marc Draisen, ExecutiveDirector
Town of Watertown
Department of
Community Development and Planning
Administration Building
149 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472
(617) 972-6417
FAX (617) 972-6484
To: Michael J. Driscoll, Town Manager
From: Steve Magoon, DCDP Director
Date: October 18, 2012
Subject: Health and Wellness Report
As you will recall, the Town has been the recipient of a Community Transformation grant of
$8750 from MAPC. With this grant an intern, Michelle Moon, was hired to complete the work.
Below is a summary of the work she completed.
Stakeholder Interviews: Over the summer, 20 stakeholder interviews were carried out with
Watertown officials, school representatives, and community groups. In addition,
representatives from Shape Up Somerville and the Cambridge Food and Fitness Council were
interviewed to learn more about their health and wellness activities/models.
Community Wellness Surveys: Two community wellness surveys were conducted, with 470
responses for the Active Living survey and 390 responses for the Healthy Eating survey.
Residents were able to respond electronically or via paper copy.
Document Review: The Town's Planning and Health related documents, ordinances, and
regulations were reviewed for wellness issues. Additional reports provided by the Health
Department were referenced to establish a basis for many of the wellness recommendations.
Recommendations were made to create consistency among Town ordinances and regulations
and to include connections to wellness. Recommendations for next steps to promote wellness
were based on the available health data and areas for further research to better understand
wellness in Watertown were suggested.
Draft Wellness Report: A draft Wellness Report and several Appendices provide summaries of
the stakeholder interviews, community survey results and findings, the document review, and
recommendations for updates to existing plans, policy documents, and ordinances. The
recommendations will be used to integrate wellness into the Comprehensive Plan and for
future updates of other documents such as the Open Space and Recreation Plan and other
regulatory documents.
Michelle and I look forward to formally presenting the results to the Honorable Town Council at
the meeting on October 23, 2012.