Commission on the City Plan

LAST REVISED 4/26/2011 3:00 PM MINUTES COMMISSION ON THE CITY PLAN POCD UPDATE SUBCOMMITTEE Tuesday, April 26, 2011 - 7:00 P.M. 23 UNION STREET NORWICH CONNECTICUT LOWER LEVEL CONFERENCE ROOM SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA ITEMS A, B & C – CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, DETERMINATION OF QUORUM: Chairman Ralph Page called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. Committee Members Present: Ralph Page, Peter Davis, Bob Mills, Deborah Hinchey, Laurie Glenney-Popovich, and Keith Ripley. Les King arrived at 8:25. Absent: NONE Also Present: Jacquie Barbarossa, Recording Secretary A quorum was present. D. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES: Upon motion by Mr. Ripley and seconded by Deb Hinchey the members voted unanimously to APPROVE the minutes of the March 22, 23, & 29 special meetings. E. COMMUNICATIONS: None F. OLD BUSINESS: None G. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Develop Draft Scope of Services Glen Chalder and Jason Vincent of Planimetrics explained there would be five main components when developing the Scope of Work. Mr. Vincent stated that the list of services provided by Planimetrics could be more or less interactive depending on what was chosen by the Steering Committee. He also stated that data, information, and knowledge would create the foundation of the POCD. Peter Davis stated that the community assessment portion was very important to determine what the vision for Norwich is today verses 10 years ago and that there should be more public involvement this time. There was discussion on public involvement, creative ways to draw in public comment, and discussion of the number of meetings and when they should be held. Deb Hinchey 1 LAST REVISED 4/26/2011 3:00 PM felt that if the public was brought in at the beginning you would get more input and ideas than if it was being presented later in the process. Mr. Vincent stated that there could be free-range discussion at the beginning while allowing people to react with structure by creating a document on various topics, issues, maps and visions. Mr. Page stated that there should be a minimum of 2 public meetings and locations and times were discussed. Mr. Mills asked how the language barrier could be addressed to reach the community better. Planimetrics said they would look into options to determine what would work best. Mr. Davis stated he would like a co-sponsored meeting by the City Council and the POCD Committee, which would invite all Boards and Commissions to participate either in person or by questionnaire. Mr. Chalder suggested setting up a budget for interviews or allowance for up to 10 meetings to meet with specific agencies or staff. There could also be allowances for case studies i.e. West Main St., underperforming assets, or the village concept. Mr. Davis suggested that Planimetrics should have a conversation with Dave Poore of NPU in regards to the GIS mapping portion, which could save the City money. There was discussion of working with the existing POCD to determine what worked, what failed and what needs to be updated. Mr. Chalder stated that public participation is important for the booklets and planning programs. He also stated he would get prices for outside consultants fees for any special studies that would be requested. The Initial Plan Drafting would consist of an 8-10 page summary and could be sent in PDF format to save printing costs. Mr. Chalder stated there would be up to three meetings with CCP for review and revisions before the final step of Plan Adoption. The Plan Adoption would include the printing and delivery of the final product. H. OTHER BUSINESS: None I: ADJOURNMENT Upon motion by Deb Hinchey, and second by Les King, the Committee voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jacquie Barbarossa, Recording Secretary 2