Laserfiche WebLink
Regular Planning Commission Meeting <br />Minutes – Wednesday, December 7, 2016 <br />Page 8 <br />Ms. Perdu advised that their firm had a good library for comparison and duly noted Chair <br />310 <br />Boguszewski’s request for three comparables providing different levels of scope. <br />311 <br />Ms. Major reiterated that tonight’s goal is to dig deeper into the written plan to inform <br />312 <br />their team of possible next steps. Ms. Major noted that part of that determination will be <br />313 <br />what to understand from those people being reached through any given engagement <br />314 <br />effort or tool used. Ms. Major noted her experience with different tools and materials <br />315 <br />used on other project; and while the need was to differentiate the plan itself as Ms. <br />316 <br />Perdu noted, and recognizing that three samples as requested could feed into the <br />317 <br />schedule, the questions remained as to how many meetings, their level of effort for <br />318 <br />different components, and other outreach options to reach the greatest number of <br />319 <br />residents and obtain feedback from as many different demographic segments of the <br />320 <br />community as possible. <br />321 <br />Ms. Major advised that she attended a lot of meetings, but as a working mom, she didn’t <br />322 <br />voluntarily attend many evening meetings in her own community. Therefore, if she <br />323 <br />served as an example, Ms. Major noted the need to find a way to reach those segments <br />324 <br />of the community through use of other tools, including under-represented groups. Ms. <br />325 <br />Major noted that meetings were not always the best option, but also noted that face-to- <br />326 <br />face options were the best, but needed to create momentum to make real things happen <br />327 <br />and how best to gather that information based on what worked best for people in the <br />328 <br />community. <br />329 <br />Since the goal of this process isn’t to create or update a document, but to make things <br />330 <br />happen in the community going forward and to provide a reason to do so, Chair <br />331 <br />Boguszewski suggested there needed to be some level of efficiency to the current plan. <br />332 <br />Ms. Major encouraged further PC feedback along that line. <br />333 <br />Playing devil’s advocate, Chair Boguszewski questioned the need for 100 layers of <br />334 <br />engagement, especially for those things that are still reasonably applicable and simply <br />335 <br />needing tweaking here and there. <br />336 <br />Member Cunningham argued that 100 levels of engagement were needed. <br />337 <br />Chair Boguszewski noted thus the City Council’s desire for the PC to process this in <br />338 <br />order to strengthen the city’s relationship with its community or why to do so. However, <br />339 <br />Chair Boguszewski also noted there was a cost to that community engagement; and if <br />340 <br />asking the questions and seeking public feedback, there was an inherent expectation <br />341 <br />that the city would act on that input. <br />342 <br />Ms. Major recognized that she heard about stakeholder engagement and city <br />343 <br />commitment frequently, opining it was true of everyone involved in the engagement <br />344 <br />process. However, Mr. Major also noted a big part of that community engagement was <br />345 <br />also talking about the realities of making things happen; and in the absence of good <br />346 <br />information being provided, people didn’t understand what was involved in that decision- <br />347 <br />making (e.g. transportation issues, capital improvements, etc.). Therefore, in the WSB <br />348 <br />team’s engagement process, Ms. Major advised that they actively tried to help people <br />349 <br />understand the relationship between engagement and commitment. <br />350 <br />With Chair Boguszewski noting that aspect included educating the electorate to make <br />351 <br />wise choices in their votes, Ms. Major agreed it was a two-way discussion between the <br />352 <br />“wish list” and “reality.” <br />353 <br />Chair Boguszewski noted it also came down to many people perhaps agreeing on <br />354 <br />something they wanted (e.g. community center) but note ready, able, or caring about <br />355 <br />what that might mean in terms of cost. Chair Boguszewski opined that the process <br />356 <br /> <br />