HomeMy Public PortalAboutBCA_MeetingSummary_120915December 9, 2015 – Meeting Summary – Developing a Coastal Adaptation Strategy for Brewster 1
Developing a Coastal Adaptation Strategy for Brewster
Assessment and Process Design Review
Meeting Summary
5:30 – 7:00 PM | December 9, 2015
Brewster Town Hall | 2198 Main Street | Brewster, MA
Overview
The Town of Brewster is supporting a public engagement process to develop a comprehensive
coastal adaptation strategy that will guide future decisions regarding coastal areas taking into
consideration the ever-changing nature of the coastal areas and variables such as erosion and sea
level rise. The Town of Brewster and its consultants, the project team, will develop the Coastal
Adaptation Strategy through extensive public input and guidance.
The project team consists a public engagement team, led by the Consensus Building Institute
(CBI), and a scientific and technical team, led by the Horsley Witten Group.
On behalf of the project, Stacie Smith and Eric Roberts, facilitators from CBI, convened a public
meeting with three primary objectives:
• Review the findings of community interviews and focus groups
• Share draft recommendations for a public process to develop the coastal adaptation
strategy, and;
• Gather feedback and input to refine and finalize process recommendations.
The presentation slides and a link to a video of the meeting are available on the project website:
http://www.cbuilding.org/project/brewstercoast. Please see the presentation slides and video for
more detail on each of the topics below. Please direct questions, comments, or requests to be
added to the email list to Eric Roberts, eroberts@cbuilding.org.
Community Interview and Focus Group Findings
CBI conducted community interviews and focus groups with 45 people from a wide cross-
section of the community. The interviews provided insight on community perspectives about
Brewster’s coastal areas, including the value of Brewster’s coast, threats to coastal areas, current
management of those threats, and suggestions for future management. Key findings included:
• The importance of the coast to most residents of Brewster
• Access to the town’s landings is a central issue of concern, including concerns about
vehicle access, bike and pedestrian options, parking, and mobility limitations
• A need for better communication and engagement of residents with the town and with
each other
The interviewees and focus group participants also provided suggestions about how to maximize
effective public engagement. Many interviewees suggested the plan development process be
transparent and provide frequent and meaningful opportunities for public engagement in
decisions impacting beach access and coastal area management.
December 9, 2015 – Meeting Summary – Developing a Coastal Adaptation Strategy for Brewster 2
Draft Public Engagement Process Recommendations
CBI presented recommendations for a process to engage residents and stakeholders to
incorporate public needs and concerns with the best available scientific data to build consensus
on recommendations for a comprehensive Coastal Adaptation Strategy. CBI recommended
utilizing four process components: the findings of a beach use survey (being conducted
separately), technical assessments to better understand current and projected conditions of the
coastal areas, formation of a Brewster Coastal Advisory Group (BCAG), and a multi-day public
charrette process.
The four components would support and advance the development of a coastal adaptation
strategy. The beach use survey would provide insight on when and how taxpayers use the coastal
areas. The scientific assessments, which would be completed by the technical team, would
provide understanding of current and projected conditions, including vulnerabilities and risks
from erosion, storms, and sea level rise. The BCAG, which would be comprised of
representatives of residential and business stakeholder groups as well as liaisons from relevant
town committees, would serve as a steering group to guide the technical assessments and the
development and implementation of the charrette process. The BCAG will initially describe the
type of information (environmental, financial, social data, etc.) they will need to guide good
decision-making. The BCAG will also integrate input from the survey and the charrette process
into consensus recommendations for the adaptation plan. The charrette process is a multi-day
collaborative planning event open to all people interested in the design of solutions to shape the
future of coastal area management in Brewster. The charrette includes multiple opportunities for
the public to learn about and help shape the coastal adaptation strategy over the course of several
days, through broad public meetings, tailored topic sessions, open houses, and a set of short
feedback loops that allow participants to evaluate and hone options for the strategy.
Discussion and Question and Answer
After the presentation, CBI opened the floor for discussion. CBI asked participants to provide
feedback on the recommended approach. Participants discussed or commented on the following
topics, which have been loosely organized by theme below.
• BCAG representatives and liaisons: Participants suggested including representatives of
commercial aquaculture, non-commercial shellfish permit holders, people who can
represent a range of mobility concerns and a range of ages (especially including the
elderly), and Nickerson Park campers on the BCAG. Participants also suggested adding a
liaison from the Dog Park Development Committee.
• BCAG representative nomination process: A participant suggested the process to select
BCAG representatives could be done through self-selection and a nomination process.
The participant suggested that some stakeholder groups such as real estate or business
might have organizations that can select a representative for that group. He added that a
nomination process for self-selection might be good for identifying neighborhood
representatives. Another participant suggested a meeting would be useful to review the
attributes of those who self-nominated and assess their ability to fill the seat.
December 9, 2015 – Meeting Summary – Developing a Coastal Adaptation Strategy for Brewster 3
• Charrette process: Participants suggested information be shared online and that
opportunities be provided for people to participate or provide input remotely if they
cannot attend in person. Other suggestions included considering holding the charrette in a
location with sufficient Internet bandwidth to support data and information sharing and
holding meetings during the daytime since some residents do not like to drive at night.
• Technical assessments: Participants suggested the BCAG anticipate how best to utilize
technical expertise during the charrette process and provide advanced notification of data
requests to town departments and technical staff to ensure timely delivery of pertinent
data. A participant also suggested engaging utility companies to identify critical
infrastructure located in coastal areas that may need to be considered during the process.
• Survey: A participant expressed concern about the survey, noting that it seemed like it
would create more of a wish-list of wants instead of helping to collect and evaluate
alternatives and tradeoffs. He asked if it could be amended to meet those needs. CBI
clarified that the survey process was independent of the CBI-led public engagement
process, but that other public engagement opportunities can and will be used to collect
critical information not collected by the survey.
• Project timeline: The Town clarified the project must be completed by the end of June
2016. CBI suggested that they might convene the BCAG in January, hold the community
visioning meeting in March, and the charrette process in April or May. A participant
suggested holding the charrette in April or afterward to allow some part-time residents to
participate.
• Communication: A participant suggested the process should provide a constant feedback
loop so that citizens are aware of the steps being taken and how they can be involved
both during the planning process and afterward when the strategy is finalized and being
implemented. A participant also suggested providing conference phones during meetings
so that people could join remotely.
• Final product contents and implementation: The Town of Brewster Director of Natural
Resources, Mr. Chris Miller, clarified that the visioning and charrette process will shape
the formal and contents of the final product, which he envisions will be a strategy that
can guide decisions about future projects on the coast. Board of Selectmen representative
Pat Hughes said she anticipated that the process will produce consensus around a set of
strategies or principles that can be used by the Coastal Committee and other boards or
town departments to evaluate or develop site specific plans. She added that approval of
any site-specific plans would still go through public processes, including town meeting as
needed.
• Relation between already funded projects and the final coastal adaptation strategy: In
response to a participant question, Mr. Miller said funded projects that are currently
underway, and those that will be out for bid soon, might be completed before the strategy
is finalized. He added that they hope to convert the two tennis courts at Crosby Lane into
parking lots before the next beach season. He also said that he does not anticipate the idea
of using Nickerson property for additional parking will advance much before the
adaptation planning is completed, which means the final strategy could influence that
project. Several participants commented the town had not provided opportunities for
public engagement on the Crosby Lane tennis court project, and that if the town proceeds
with it during the coastal adaptation planning process then it would make it difficult to
December 9, 2015 – Meeting Summary – Developing a Coastal Adaptation Strategy for Brewster 4
build trust with the citizens and potentially jeopardize the success of the adaptation
planning process.
• Other: Several participants said the proposed process looks great because it is
comprehensive and designed to gather the broadest possible input.
Next Steps
The next steps are to seek additional input on the recommended engagement process via email
and phone (call or email Eric Roberts at 617-844-1126 or eroberts@cbuilding.org), then refine
the engagement process and distribute a request for nominations.