Public Involvement Outline

Introduction

This document presents an outline for obtaining public involvement. The approach is based on a series of four meetings with residents from a given municipality, followed by a fifth meeting with members of the town board or village trustees plus the planning board. Follow-on meetings during which the municipality is provided technical assistance can be scheduled as needed.

The first four municipal meetings are intended to set the stage for consideration of implementation actions selected by local officials. Each of the first four meetings has three parts: a presentation of information by the Project Technical Team; a workshop conducted in breakout groups to discuss the information presented and develop feedback on the residents' perspective; and, a report by each breakout group to the reconvened entire group to allow all participants to hear the feedback from the individual breakout groups. The number and focal points of the meetings can be varied to meet individual municipal circumstances. The number of breakout groups can be modified based on the number of attendees at a given meeting.

1st Municipal Meeting

Project Technical Team:

• Summarize project and study process.
• Goals and Objectives.
• Outline public involvement process.
• Utilization of the Board's web site and e-mail for transmission of information and feedback.
• Presentation on existing conditions:
• Demographics.
• Existing development pattern and land use.
• Environmentally sensitive areas.
• Existing development regulations.
• Issues identified.
• Q&A.

Workshop breakout groups:

• Distribute comment cards.
• Discussion in breakout groups:
• Personal visions for the future development of the community.
• How does the vision compare with existing conditions?

Reconvene as a single group:

• Breakout groups report on their respective discussions.
• Prepare a composite list of visions identifying community issues, concerns and opportunities.

2nd Municipal Meeting

Project Technical Team:

• Summarize feedback from 1st meeting.
• Q&A.
   
• Discuss relationship between environmentally sensitive areas and existing development regulations
• Discuss build-out scenarios and the impact on environmentally sensitive areas.
• Q&A.

Workshop breakout groups:

• Distribute comment cards.
• Discussion in breakout groups:
• Issues identified in comparing sensitive areas and development regulations.
• Issues identified in comparing sensitive areas and build- out scenarios.
• How do the issues compare with the visions?

Reconvene as a single group:

• Breakout groups report on their respective discussions.
• Prepare a composite list of issues and comparisons of issues to visions.

3rd Municipal Meeting

Project Technical Team:

• Review of results from 1st and 2nd meetings.
• Q&A.
   
• Pose the question of what response, if any, the community is prepared to consider in order to address the issues identified.
• Q&A.

Workshop breakout groups:

• Distribute comment cards.
• Discussion of build-out scenarios.
• What elements are desirable?
• What elements are not desired?
What actions is the community prepared to take to achieve what is desired?

Reconvene as a single group:

• Breakout groups report on their respective discussions.
• Prepare a composite list of comments.

4th Municipal Meeting

Project Technical Team:

• Summarize feedback from 3rd meeting.
• Q&A.
   
• Discuss possible implementation actions
• Highlight some preliminary ideas on possible development alternatives and tools.
• Q&A.

Workshop breakout groups:

• Distribute comment cards.
• Discussion of preferred implementation actions.

Reconvene as a single group:

• Breakout groups report on their respective discussions.
• Prepare a composite list of comments.

5th Municipal Meeting - with Town Board/Planning Board

Project Technical Team:

• Summarize four meetings, with emphasis on preferred implementation actions.
• Discuss where town officials would like to go from here.
• Discuss possible alternatives and tools in response to identified actions desired.

Discussion with attendees:

• Discuss the information presented and the local perspectives.

Subsequent Municipal Meetings

Project Technical Team:

• Provide follow-up technical assistance as needed in accordance with implementation actions desired by the municipality.