2026-10-14 - Master Plan Steering Committee

00:05All right, we'll call the meeting to

00:07order.

00:08Um, item number one, do you want to do

00:11the welcome and introductions first or

00:13go right to

00:14>> Yeah, I think welcome and introduction.

00:15>> Okay, so we'll do welcome and

00:16introduction. So, um, I will start. I am

00:19Nicole Torres. I am the chair of your

00:21committee and I am the representative

00:22from the school committee.

00:24>> Fran, what?

00:25>> Um, my name is Fran Mella. I'm the vice

00:27chair. I am with the zoning board of

00:29appeals.

00:30>> Michelle Conlin. I am the clerk of the

00:33committee and I am the one of the

00:35representatives in the select board.

00:37>> I'm Larry Andovvic. I'm a citizen.

00:40>> I'm Beth Cavivant. I represent the

00:42affordable housing trust.

00:43>> Lee Abdella representing the shoes

00:45redevelopment corporation. Caroline

00:47Mumber. I'm an atlarge member but also a

00:50town meeting member.

00:52>> Kathy Flynn. I am an alternate member on

00:55this committee and also a town meeting

00:57member.

00:59>> Leo Moroni. I'm an atlarge member.

01:02>> Hi Doug Muzzy at large member.

01:04>> Toddola

01:05student representative for school

01:07committee.

01:08>> Hi I'm Vicram Chabra from finance

01:10committee.

01:11>> I am Shannon Wall at large member.

01:14>> I'm Emily Petro representative of the

01:17conservation commission.

01:19I'm Christine Gustoson representing the

01:22Historic District Commission. And

01:24>> we do have one remote member, uh, Ken

01:26Griswald.

01:29>> Yeah. Hi guys. I'm Ken Griswald at large

01:31member.

01:35>> Want to go next? I

01:37>> think that's it. Yeah. So, um, turn it

01:39over to the consultant. Um so they've

01:41prepared uh couple slides uh this

01:44evening uh kind of update on where we

01:45are uh in the process uh and uh some

01:48workshops. So we'll go from there.

01:50>> Do you want to introduce yourselves

01:51first?

01:52>> Yeah. Oh

01:53>> that's [laughter] okay. You can jump

01:54around.

01:54>> Chris, director of planning economic

01:56development.

01:57>> Hi, I'm Jill Sankis, a planner with

01:59Barrett Planning Group.

02:00>> I'm Laurel Mir. I'm also a planner with

02:01Barrett Planning Group.

02:04>> And my and my name is Lisa Juan McKinley

02:07Horn.

02:08>> Thank you, Lisa. Hi, good evening

02:11everyone. Um, so nice to be here with

02:12you in person. Last time I was remote

02:14and Laurel is working on this plan also

02:17um and is in able to join us um tonight.

02:20Uh Judy Barrett had a conflict as did uh

02:22Jen Dhy who was here last time with you

02:24in person. So the agenda for tonight um

02:28is that I was going to give some updates

02:30on community engagement that's been done

02:32to date um and what's on the horizon. Um

02:35and in terms of inventory and

02:37assessment, we've been working on

02:39assessing the baseline conditions of

02:40where Shrewsbury is today. Um

02:44and um we have some slides that show

02:47some highlights from each of the

02:48elements of the master plan, which you

02:50might remember from last time when we

02:51gave a general overview. Those elements

02:53are housing, economic development, land

02:55use, open space, and recreation, and so

02:58on and so forth. So you'll see some

02:59highlights um acknowledging some things

03:02that have been done in town since the

03:042016 master plan and some things that

03:06were also recommended in the plan um but

03:09maybe haven't taken off yet or are are

03:12ongoing. And then we'll do a visioning

03:14activity at the end. You may have

03:16received a form um via email. Um I also

03:20put a form in front of you which may be

03:22the same one that you received. So, just

03:23as a if you hadn't had a chance to fill

03:25it out or look at it, you can um use

03:28that as a prompt when we get to that

03:29activity.

03:31Um and that activity is just um like a

03:33starting conversation. It's not the end

03:34of a conversation about a vision for

03:36Shrewsbury and then we'll set a date for

03:38the next meeting.

03:41Okay. So for community engagement,

03:44what's been done so far? Um as part of

03:47the background information gathering

03:49phase um of the comprehensive master

03:51plan, uh the consultant team of Barrett

03:53Planning Group and Kimley Horn conducted

03:55virtual interviews this summer with town

03:57staff. Um these virtual one-hour

03:59sessions gathered local knowledge and

04:01perspectives on current conditions,

04:03recent changes, and emerging issues in

04:05Shrewsbury. Also, as part of the

04:08information gathering phase, um a short

04:10survey was developed and distributed to

04:12town boards and committees to provide

04:14input. We received um 21 members

04:17completed the survey representing 15

04:19boards and committees. The short survey

04:22asked uh five questions asked what

04:25members considered to be the boards or

04:27committee's major accomplishments in the

04:28past 10 years. How the work may have

04:31changed among those boards or

04:32committees. Uh what the plans are for

04:34the next 10 years. How do the board how

04:37does the board or committee interact

04:38with the current uh 2016 master plan if

04:41and how it interacts with that? I mean

04:43does it look at it for recommendations

04:45um and things to achieve the goals and

04:48how is the area of work perceived by

04:50town administration? How is the board or

04:53committee's work uh perceived by the

04:54general public and if they have any

04:56issues getting things done? So we would

04:58like to thank everybody who took the

04:59time to share their insight with us from

05:02those boards and committees. And again

05:03that was the beginning of a conversation

05:05and information gathering not the end.

05:07So the boards and committees um and the

05:09members will have um plenty of time to

05:11continue to um help shape this updated

05:15master plan question of the month was

05:18the next way we um are trying to engage

05:21with the community to get some insight.

05:22So every month we'll post a new question

05:25on the master plan website to collect

05:27public input throughout this process.

05:30The previous month's questions will

05:32still be available and open for

05:35responses for anybody who um is late to

05:38joining the conversation. They can go

05:40back and fill in um responses to

05:43different questions of the months or

05:44anybody who just hasn't gotten um a

05:46chance to get around to it yet.

05:50So, the September question of the month

05:52was in five words or less, what do you

05:54want the master plan to address? This

05:56question to date has received 57

05:58responses. And a summary of those

06:00responses will soon be available on the

06:03project website. So the different um

06:05summaries that you received I think from

06:07Chris Louise um in the past week after

06:11tonight's meeting um we'll begin posting

06:13those to the project website so that

06:15they're just available as a like sort of

06:16a information hub for you to um you know

06:20to have those things available summaries

06:22of different engagement to date.

06:24Um last meeting um you participated in a

06:2824 hours in Shrewsbury map challenge. Um

06:32we also u provided a summary of that

06:34input and it was that was an icebreaker

06:36activity just to refresh your memory. Um

06:38and for those of you who may not have

06:40been here that imagined that you had 24

06:42hours to show a friend the best of

06:43Shrewsbury and asked where you would

06:45take them and why those places were

06:47special. So, we've summarized those

06:49responses um and um tallied and kept

06:53note of what made those places special.

06:56Okay. Project webpage updates. Um the

06:59presentation slides from the last

07:01meeting are now available on the project

07:04um website. Um as will um these slides

07:07from tonight's meeting be available um

07:09for anybody who wants to revisit them.

07:12And um Lisa from Kimley Horn is going to

07:15give an update. Um, Kimley Horn was able

07:17to have two people at the Spirit of

07:18Shrewsbury event two weekends ago.

07:21>> Thank you.

07:22>> Go ahead, Lisa.

07:24>> Thank you, Jill. Yes, it occurred in

07:26early October and glad that it was

07:28rescheduled because it was a fantastic

07:30day to be out and connect with the

07:32community. It was so well attended and

07:36attendance was very consistent

07:37throughout the day. Approximately 75 to

07:41100 people showed up to a table and

07:43engaged with us and about twed

07:48a mapping activity. During the time that

07:51we were there, we had a mapping activity

07:54really understanding folks um where

07:56they're experiencing good or bad

07:59depending on the deal depending on the

08:02mode. One of them was the mode of

08:04driving. The second one was walking or

08:07biking.

08:09Um, some of the themes that we heard was

08:12sidewalks do exist throughout the town.

08:14However, there were still many gaps in

08:16the network that prevented people from

08:19walking certain places safely. A lot of

08:22folks wants to make sure at certain

08:24schools or at schools have sidewalk

08:27connectivity to these neighborhoods.

08:30There were a lot of concerns about sight

08:32distance issues, especially when pulling

08:35off the side streets going onto the main

08:37roads regarding vegetation um windy

08:41curvy road and speedings because it was

08:44difficult for the cars to um turn left

08:48or right especially from the side

08:50street. There were a lot of talks about

08:53congestion in the town center and they

08:56also mentioned that they would like to

08:58see more support for the BW wall through

09:00Shrewsbury.

09:03>> The what?

09:04>> The what?

09:04>> The BWAT.

09:05>> So the Boston [clears throat] Worester

09:06Airline Trail.

09:08>> Oh, rail trail.

09:09>> Yep.

09:09>> Is that something?

09:10>> The town of Westboro has completed I

09:13think one phase of multiple multiple

09:16phases of this project. Um there is a

09:19portion of it. So, it's like this

09:21historic like railroad line, right, that

09:23ran through Westboro, Shrewsbury into

09:26Worcester. Um, and it's something that

09:28like there's been stuff on our planner

09:31planning page for a long time. Um, it's

09:34a lot of it's over private property now.

09:36Um, but it would connect theoretically

09:40it would connect uh Shrewsbury parts of

09:42Shrewsbury to parts of Westboro's trails

09:45that they were able to develop into

09:47public trail systems. Is that connect to

09:50the charm bracelet trails probably in

09:52Westboro?

09:53>> Um I think it's separate from those but

09:56yeah it's part of same idea.

09:57>> Yeah.

09:58>> Yeah. So it's it's a a trail system that

10:00utilizes the the historic trolley route

10:03uh right of way. Um it goes through

10:05multiple communities. Um Westboro is

10:08currently evaluating their um piece that

10:11connects into Shrewsbury. Um they're

10:14actually doing a feasibility study and

10:15uh the town granted them access to um uh

10:20to the town property up near the

10:22proposed Subaru location off of um uh of

10:26a Route 9. Um so looking at that

10:30location uh kind of by the Lamplighter

10:33neighborhood. Um so they're evaluating

10:36um the feasibility of the the trail

10:38there as well in Shrewsbury. Um we're

10:41not extending any feasibility beyond

10:43that. But as mentioned by Michelle um

10:46previous years almost I think back 2016

10:492017 uh CMRPC did do a uh feasibility

10:53study for the entire trail network that

10:56brought it to some schematic options uh

10:59you utilizing the old trolley route but

11:00also existing rights of way um town

11:03roads and infrastructure uh to complete

11:05that. So,

11:07I I'd be happy to give if that's of

11:09interest to give a little bit more

11:10information to the uh committee after

11:13this meeting. I can point to some of the

11:14resources.

11:17>> Thank you. Thank you, Lisa, for

11:19reporting on that. Okay. So,

11:21[clears throat] what's next on the

11:23horizon for engagement? And engagement

11:25will go on throughout the course of of

11:27developing the plan. So, um, the more

11:29immediate things are question of the

11:31month number two, which we're calling

11:32October question of the month, um, which

11:34says, "Tell us what you value about

11:36Shrewsbury. What you hope will remain

11:38part of the community as it grows and

11:40changes." This could be a place, a

11:41tradition, a service, a natural

11:43resources, a community quality, or

11:45something else that matters to you. So,

11:48the question is, what makes Shrewsbury

11:50special today, and what should we

11:51protect for the future? This question

11:54has been posted since maybe around

11:56October 1st. um has seven responses so

11:59far. So part of your homework um will be

12:02to um check out the question on the

12:05project web page, give it some thought,

12:07um provide a response if you're you know

12:09so inclined in the upcoming days and

12:11tell your friends and your enemies to do

12:13so as well. Um we also work with Tanner

12:17in communications and he does a nice job

12:18of posting for the first question of the

12:20month. We noticed, you know, an uptick

12:22when he was able to spread the word

12:24through some different communication

12:25channels here in town. So, we'll do

12:27that. Also,

12:29um for project webpage updates,

12:32essentially we'll be posting things um

12:34that I shared out earlier in terms of

12:37summaries of community engagement.

12:38There's a tab on the project web page

12:41that says community engagement and

12:42that's where most of the summaries, you

12:44know, will will live if you're looking

12:45for that. Um the slides will live under

12:49the tab, I think that says master plan

12:51steering committee.

12:53Okay. So, one homework is to engage with

12:56the October question of the month if you

12:57haven't already done so. Um, the second

12:59is the community forum,

13:02which we'll talk about at the the very

13:04end. Um, but that will be the a big um

13:08bigger scale public outreach effort um

13:11focused on discovery again learning a

13:14little bit about Shrewsbury today and

13:16then um getting some input regarding a

13:18vision to that will guide Shrewsbury for

13:21the next 10 to 20 years. Um, so also to

13:24um hopefully it works in your schedules

13:26to attend that, encourage other people

13:28to attend that because that'll be a

13:30great way to for people to get engaged

13:32to learn more and to and to give some

13:34input that will help shape the plan.

13:36>> Okay.

13:37>> Sorry. Did you um did you say there was

13:38a date for that

13:41date?

13:41>> We do have a date.

13:42>> November 12th

13:44>> to return this form.

13:46>> No.

13:46>> To what?

13:48>> Oh, for the community forum. For the

13:50forum.

13:51>> Sorry. I thought it was question of the

13:52month, but we're still on.

13:54>> Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. No, question of the

13:56month is open for October, but it will

13:58never be it won't be closed. It'll be

14:00sort of moved on the project web page

14:01when the November question.

14:03>> I see.

14:03>> So, you can do the question of the

14:05months when you want, but it's kind of

14:06fun to have them in batches, you know,

14:08and kind of keep things moving along.

14:09>> Okay.

14:10>> And um we kind of designed the October

14:12one um to be a question that will feed

14:14into a vision kind of what makes

14:16Shrewsbury special today and what should

14:18we protect for the future. that kind of

14:20um lends itself well toward the

14:22conversation of vision. Um so community

14:25forum we have set for um Thursday

14:27November 12th with the idea and we can

14:30iron this out if chair anybody has

14:33things the idea of um a business meeting

14:36for the committee from I think 6:30 to 7

14:39and then we would have the forum from 7

14:42to 8:30 to keep the same time frame. Um

14:45and the design of the forum will most

14:47likely be an open house. So we realize

14:49people's weekn night schedules um you

14:52know may not allow for an hour and a

14:54half um presentation and formal things.

14:56So we will have uh plenty of information

14:58accessible um for people to engage in

15:01with our staff staff of Kim Lee Horn

15:04town staff facilitating you know things

15:06um and people can kind of come and go as

15:08they want. But we'll we'll roll more of

15:11that out to you through Chris and Louise

15:13in the next week or two. Um but if

15:16you're able to be there, that'd be

15:17wonderful because I think as we said uh

15:19the first meeting um you really the

15:21extension the hands and feet to to um

15:24share this project and opportunities to

15:27help shape um shape the plan to all the

15:30folks in town that you know or can reach

15:32out to. Okay. So now you have a sense of

15:34what's been done so far um and some

15:37things that are in the works. I would

15:39love everybody and you don't need to

15:40respond now but as a third piece of

15:42homework. So question of the month get

15:45the word out about the community forum

15:46and and um attend if you can. The third

15:49thing is um think about other ways and

15:52places that you as committee members

15:54might like to go in the community to

15:56listen to people and get feedback that

15:57would help inform the master plan. The

16:00consultant team along with town staff

16:01can help support your efforts with

16:03developing materials as needed. So

16:05that's kind of an open invitation.

16:08um to give some thought to and I know I

16:10think some people already probably have

16:11and probably have shared with Chris

16:12Louise um ideas. I think there's an

16:15event called U Tide in December,

16:18December 5th maybe. So that might be

16:20something to think about having some

16:23sort of presence there, maybe a comment

16:25board, maybe some way to get um

16:28feedback. And we certainly can can

16:30design, you know, maybe what would be

16:31the the prompts to ask to get feedback

16:34to um help shape the plan at that stage.

16:40Awesome. Thank you. All right. Now,

16:42we're going to go into an overview of

16:45the inventory and assessment, which is

16:47the portion of the plan that um that

16:50lays out the existing conditions.

16:52Okay. Um

16:55items marked on the following slides

16:58with that symbol um

17:01which is a clipboard. It looks like a

17:04clipboard with like a target in it. It's

17:05it's the only symbol I have. So, anytime

17:07you see the symbol, that's what that and

17:10it it denotes um items that were

17:13recommendations from the 2016 master

17:15plan. So, you know that um we're kind of

17:17acknowledging what the 2016 master plan

17:20said um what's been accomplished since

17:22then. Um and then anything that maybe

17:25was mentioned and recommended in that

17:26plan that hasn't been accomplished. And

17:28that's kind of part of part of this

17:30process, seeing if it's still relevant,

17:32if something else, you know, has changed

17:36in those years. Okay, next slide.

17:41Okay, the first element that I'm just

17:43going to share some highlights is the

17:44natural resources and open space and

17:46recreation

17:48um

17:49topics. So um a storm water utility was

17:53established in 2019. So that addresses a

17:56recommendation from the 2016 plan. In

17:592018, the town purchased several large

18:02parcels belonging to a Grafton State

18:04Hospital to use for agricultural

18:06preservation, open space, and active and

18:09passive recreation. Um that land is also

18:12in a a wellhead protection area. So that

18:15helps um protect the underlying aquafer

18:19water. And um the town provided

18:22continuing education for municipal staff

18:25about um identification, managing, and

18:28removal of invasive plant species,

18:29including a recommended planting guide

18:32that was developed in 2023, hosting

18:34events targeted at the removal of the

18:37invasive water chestnut plant. Um, and

18:41in just in September 2026, the Asian

18:45Longhorn beetle was declared that it had

18:47been eradicated from Shrewbury by the

18:50Department of Conservation Resources,

18:52Massachusetts Department um, of

18:54Agriculture um, and one other entity um,

18:58that had an acronym that I did not um,

19:01write down. And the town had applied has

19:05since 2016 has 2016 Yeah. has applied to

19:08and received various grants to preserve,

19:10protect, and enhance open space parcels,

19:13which included a $50,000 mash trails

19:15grant to expand the trail around Jordan

19:17Pond in 2022, a $27,000 um local hazard

19:21mitigation plan planning grant from FEMA

19:23in 2025, and a $100,000

19:27municipal vulnerability preparedness 2.0

19:30grant from Resilient Massachusetts. And

19:32that was um awarded in 2026 and I

19:34believe is underway.

19:37Okay. Um for the um element of historic

19:41and cultural resources,

19:43the town adopted the community

19:45preservation act in 2020.

19:48Um

19:50a new expanded Shrewsbury Public Library

19:52was open providing more space to meet

19:54the changing library needs of the

19:55community. Um, and of note, um, no

20:00additional historic preservation

20:01protections have been adopted, nor have

20:03any additional historic resources been

20:05added to the Massachusetts Historical

20:07Commission's statewide database of

20:09historic resources since 2016.

20:12>> Uh, CPA can also be used for open space

20:16as well. So, you can access that fund

20:20potentially if we have any ideas.

20:22>> Yes. And for um community housing also,

20:24I believe, are the three buckets. Yeah.

20:26So, thank you.

20:26>> Do we know how much is currently in the

20:29CPA account?

20:31>> Yeah, I I don't have the figures in

20:32front of me this evening, but the the

20:33budget is presented at town meeting. We

20:35do

20:36>> about as clear as mud, Chris, you know

20:37that.

20:40>> I'm sure the accountant would have that

20:43information.

20:49>> Well, housing. We'll move on to housing.

20:51Um, new developments provide a variety

20:54of housing options to residents. Um, an

20:58affordable housing trust was established

21:00in 2021 to fund and develop affordable

21:03housing and that was a recommendation of

21:06the 2016 plan. Um, Shrewsbury has

21:10amended the ADU, the accessory dwelling

21:13unit bylaw to comply with the new state

21:15regulations.

21:17Um, the inclusionary zoning bylaw has

21:19not yet been updated and senior housing

21:22continues to be a concern among

21:24residents.

21:27Regarding land use, Shrewsbury has

21:30satisfied the requirements of the new

21:32MBTA communities law. Several major

21:34sites were redeveloped, including Spags

21:36and the Edgemir Drive-In.

21:39increased development uh led to resident

21:41concerns about infrastructure impacts

21:43and a two-year moratorum on the Lakeway

21:46and Route 20 overlay districts.

21:50>> Okay, if Lisa is still with us, I'll let

21:52you do transportation and circulation.

21:55>> Thank you, Jill. Um, Shrewsbury

21:59maintains approximately 83% of town

22:01roads and Mass DOT maintains

22:04jurisdictions over several key regional

22:06facilities such as Route 9, Route 20,

22:09Maple Avenue, and Main Street. Um there

22:13was the route 20 corridor master plan

22:15that was finalized in early 2020 and the

22:18corridor improvement projects was

22:20developed to improve traffic safety for

22:22all road users, reduce travel speeds and

22:25really accommodate those future traffic

22:28conditions due to planned developments.

22:30Since that study, there were two

22:32separate projects along Route 20 and

22:34that has received um transportation

22:37improvement program funding um through

22:39Mass DOT. This includes uh roadway

22:43winding, improvements to lane geometry,

22:45construction of sidewalks, shared use

22:47path, and improved signage and other

22:50infrastructure improvements.

22:52Another one is the complete street

22:54projects at as you can see in the photo

22:56as well that funded the installation of

22:58sidewalks, curb ramps, um crosswalk and

23:01bike lanes to close an existing gap in

23:04the network and improve [snorts]

23:05accessibility along the corridor. Just

23:08really showing that studies eventually

23:10will go into construction. You just have

23:13to give it time. And also every single

23:16study is really accommodating growth in

23:19all modes of transportation.

23:23On the next slide,

23:26um when we think about safety education,

23:30there are a lot of partners. Um,

23:33Shrewberry themselves, um, they do a

23:36great job in promoting safe walking and

23:38biking, especially through the

23:40participation in the Mass DOT safe route

23:44to school program, which is currently at

23:46the Sherwood Middle School and the

23:49Walter J. Patton Elementary Schools. It

23:52is also complemented by the Shrewsbury

23:55Police Department since they do

23:57pedestrian bicycle safety programs for

24:00middle schools that teaches uh for

24:02elementary schools that teaches safe

24:04routes, traffic awareness, bicycle

24:06safety, and safe street crossing

24:09practices. Just different agencies

24:12really supporting safer travel for

24:15getting around, which is so nice.

24:19Another one is the local transit. Um

24:22there's two bus routes, Route 12 and

24:25Route 15. Um that does connect in

24:28Shrewsbury to Worcester as well. And

24:31then in this year in 2026, Shrewsbury

24:35began offering free expanded van

24:38transportation through Yellow Cab and

24:41Safeway Transportation. and those were

24:44funded from the Massachusetts Council on

24:47Aging State Formula Grant. Um, some

24:51other things is that the town continues

24:53to improve non-motorized modes at key

24:56locations as we just mentioned

24:58previously. um the complete streets

25:01project that completed a sidewalk gap,

25:04but also the town has been making

25:06various studies such as the

25:09comprehensive transportation and

25:10multimmodal study that really

25:12concentrated at the town center and then

25:16from that it puts a lot of safety

25:19related recommendations to improve

25:21pedestrian and bicycling experience and

25:24now ultimately it's finding money going

25:28for engineering ing and implementation,

25:30but a plan has been developed.

25:37Okay. For economic development, um over

25:40the past decade, the town has devoted

25:42considerable capital funds to sewer

25:44expansion projects along Route 20,

25:47opening up the area for commercial,

25:48industrial, and residential development.

25:51The pandemic marked a shift in what

25:53industries were growing in Shrewsbury.

25:55Before the pandemic, most job growth

25:57occurred in health care and social

25:59assistance. However, post-pandemic job

26:02growth was led by educational services,

26:04accommodation and food services, retail,

26:06and construction. Shrewsberry's 2016

26:09master plan prioritized strengthening

26:12and enhancing enhancing the town center.

26:14So this priority resulted in ongoing

26:17town center revitalization efforts

26:19including several projects such as the

26:21town center visioning, a parking study,

26:24the creation of a town center zoning

26:26district, public private partnerships to

26:29redevelop 1 to7 Maple Avenue, and

26:31updating wayfinding and branding, and a

26:33multi multimodal transportation study.

26:38>> Okay, back to Lisa for community

26:41facilities and services.

26:43Thank you. Um, in 2018, the town opened

26:47the home farm water treatment plant that

26:50utilizes um, filtration technology to

26:53improve drinking water quality. And then

26:56ultimately in 2025, construction began

26:59on PAS treatment addition to meet those

27:02new federal drinking water standards.

27:04So, that's great that um, it's been

27:06completed and underway. Um there has

27:10been that the town hall has been

27:12experiencing functional space limitation

27:16um aging HVAC infrastructure. However,

27:20the town has begun to evaluate those

27:22long-term investments to modernize the

27:25facilities as part of a broader

27:28municipal facilities optimization

27:31project. Um funding for that project is

27:34still yet to be required.

27:36Um the next one is talking about the

27:38Shrewsbury public schools. It continues

27:41to draw residents, but there are

27:43concerns about declining enrollment, um

27:46building capac building building

27:48conditions and capacity. And the town

27:51also adopted the all and Shrusbury

27:54municipal climate action and resiliency

27:57plan to support municipal sustainability

28:00efforts. In the next slide, we're just

28:03showing a a chart of the capacity and

28:07enrollment. The ones that are in that

28:10light blue, Oak Middle School and

28:12Shrewsbury High School, the student

28:15enrollment is higher than the building

28:18design capacity. Just showing that there

28:21is that building capacity as I just

28:24mentioned a second ago.

28:31These documents are on the website.

28:34>> Thank you, Lisa.

28:37>> If not, we should be able to get to

28:42>> Lisa was you're you're finished,

28:44correct?

28:45>> Yes. Thank you.

28:46>> Okay. Thank you so much.

28:48>> Okay. Does anybody have any questions?

28:52>> Are these documents available to the

28:54committee? Are they on the website?

28:56>> Yes. So, we'll email the slides out.

28:57They're also going to be on the web page

28:59for the public as well, but we'll email

29:01them out to the committee members as

29:02well.

29:03>> Is it possible to get them prior to the

29:04meetings?

29:06>> Yeah, that would be that would be

29:08>> Yeah, we can try to

29:09>> Yeah, that would be nice, too.

29:11>> You talked about it in the first

29:12meeting.

29:13>> So, it'd be great if we could get it

29:14before and then we could have more of a

29:16dialogue instead of just a presentation.

29:19>> Did we agree to share emails or is it

29:22just through MPC.gov

29:25go to communicate with each other.

29:27>> We can't.

29:28>> So, so,

29:29>> uh, communication should flow through

29:31staff. Um, so you would email us.

29:33>> If I want to write Nicole an email, I

29:35have to send it to you to send to her.

29:37>> We just have to be wary of open meeting

29:39laws,

29:39>> right?

29:40>> Open meeting law. Two people, any more

29:42than two?

29:43>> Yeah. When in doubt, flow the

29:45communication through through staff. It

29:47just allows us to

29:48>> call manage that. [laughter]

29:53>> Yeah. Yeah, I think even to have him to

29:54reference a little while before would be

29:57great

29:58>> or have printouts here at this so we can

30:00>> be more collaborative.

30:01>> Yeah,

30:06>> I have a question about the Route 20

30:09sewer expansion. Do we have like a kind

30:14of a layout plan for that and where

30:17we've extended into?

30:20Yeah. So, uh, Route 20 is is managed by

30:22Mass, but I can get those I can get

30:24those plans. I'm sure there's at least

30:26some kind of graphics if that we can put

30:27together.

30:28>> So, it wasn't like a town initiative. It

30:30was something.

30:30>> So, it was so um in partnership. So, the

30:33the town pursued grants uh in

30:35partnership with Mass Dot to accommodate

30:38that uh expansion project.

30:43>> [clears throat]

30:43>> In the 2016 plan, it was stressed

30:46multiple times that we were constrained

30:49by our ability for water and the sewer.

30:52And I'd really like to get a better

30:54understanding of what's changed over the

30:56last 10 years as we're trying to move

30:59this forward because it sounded like we

31:02were stuck. Westboro was at beyond

31:04capacity and couldn't do more and all of

31:07those seem to be serious constraints to

31:09anything we would want to develop

31:11further

31:11>> and we had a like a sewage release in um

31:17Lake Quinnse over the summer. So it is a

31:20pressing issue. Obviously, Worcester has

31:24their treatment plant, which is we can't

31:26do anything about, but um definitely a

31:30big issue in town.

31:34It would be handy to know where we

31:36actually are because if we're going to

31:37do plan to do great visions and things

31:39and we're stuck with this major

31:41constraint, you can dream all you want,

31:43but you know, no sewer, no water, it's

31:46not going to happen. So, just a thought.

31:52Oh, by the way, I did have one other

31:53thought as I read the 2016 plan. Who

31:57owns the plan and who is held

31:59responsible for the plan happening or

32:02not happening? That wasn't clear to me

32:04either.

32:05>> Yeah. So, ultimately the plan um is

32:08adopted at town meetings. So, the the

32:10town itself owns the plan. Um our office

32:14does manage um the documents. we keep

32:16the plan um and we do uh provide that

32:20initial kind of push to implement all of

32:22those uh strategies. [laughter] So um I

32:25believe you know we we'll get in an

32:27implementation strategy after we've

32:28created the vision but near the end of

32:30this process we'll create that

32:32implementation plan. Um the prior

32:34version split uh responsibilities of

32:36other departments, other community

32:38organizations. Um we did uh form an

32:42implementation committee um that started

32:45some of the work of implementing that

32:46and tracking with boards and committees.

32:48Um my understanding is that did kind of

32:51fall back into our department. Uh the

32:54implementation committee um was kind of

32:56challenging in terms of getting all of

32:58those elements coordinated. So our our

33:00office was uh primarily driving a lot of

33:02that. Okay.

33:04>> Is there a readout along the way then of

33:06the progress like an annual readout of

33:10progress towards that plan or

33:12>> so we didn't with this version but I

33:13think that's a great idea and that's

33:14something that we can incorporate.

33:16>> Okay.

33:16>> Annual reporting.

33:17>> And not to be cheeky. I did I've started

33:20to turn myself on to AI. I'm not a huge

33:23fan, but I did actually ask Claude and

33:25chat GPT based on our 2016 plan and

33:29bylaws we've adopted since then and

33:31things that have happened in town like

33:32growthwise, development wise and just I

33:35kind of created a prompt to say look at

33:36all you know local newspapers things

33:38that have happened. Have we met the

33:40goals that were set forth in this plan?

33:42And it overwhelmingly

33:44all of them said no.

33:47And so I think that idea of like having

33:50an annual readout to just kind of look

33:52at what are our guideposts and are we

33:54actually holding ourselves accountable

33:56because I think in the past because I've

33:58even gone back and looked at the 2006

33:59master plan and I'm like it's always the

34:01same thing. We want more open space like

34:04we want to be responsible with our

34:06buildings, take care of what we have and

34:08it

34:08>> I don't know. know I think if we don't

34:10hold ourselves accountable to your point

34:11like by annually revisiting are we

34:13meeting these

34:15>> deadlines then

34:16>> the words that you were using don't

34:18sound measurable and unless they're

34:20measurable it's hard to hold people

34:22accountable or hold

34:25associated with it

34:27>> a lot of like a challenge in funding too

34:30is that you can get grants for

34:34design but then the town has to come up

34:37with money to actually do the

34:39construction activity which is where

34:42I've see like a lot of things just like

34:44dream and then die because you know we

34:47can do all of this fancy design work and

34:50engineers can put together all of these

34:52plans but like actually going and like

34:54implementing the plan is where things

34:56like I think just like I don't know seem

34:59to kind of lack but um I think like with

35:04dedicated folks that are you know driven

35:07to see projects through it could you

35:10know we could do something there but

35:14just something to be like conscious of I

35:16guess.

35:17>> Yeah.

35:20>> Is there a way for us to design the plan

35:22with metrics and then we get to town

35:26meeting and maybe there's a very brief

35:29report annually that we could do. I

35:32don't know how I mean going back to what

35:34you were saying it is a little elucery

35:36like open space what does that really

35:38mean and how do we measure that in a

35:39year

35:40>> I think it's it's hard to do that but

35:42maybe to your point like not just a

35:44vision how do we have metrics that tell

35:47us we are on pace at least to do

35:49something headed in the right direction

35:50to do something so if these are going to

35:52be all of our pillars that we use again

35:54going forward if we're able to have

35:56metrics every year that we can kind of

35:58peak at and have the town peak at I

36:01think that would be a good

36:01accountability piece

36:02>> and and even it might be a little se

36:05semantical but if that's a word um

36:08>> instead of metrics um OKRs

36:12>> so like outcomes and key results might

36:14be something better for something that

36:16you're building or envisioning versus

36:19something that you're operating

36:21>> and how are we aligning with the

36:23departments like each of the departments

36:26within the town and what are their goals

36:28that they've already set for themselves

36:30I think that's an important piece too

36:32because I'm sure each department already

36:33has goals that they have to be reaching.

36:36So, how is the master plan aligning with

36:38those goals too?

36:40>> I think a great stem off of that, I know

36:42that the town departments all meet. How

36:44often is it Chris? Once a month.

36:46>> Monthly. Yeah.

36:46>> Yeah. Monthly to just give a report. It

36:49would even be great to do that with

36:51every committee in town to report. maybe

36:54not every month and maybe a lot, but twi

36:56twice a year to report on how they're,

36:59you know, what they're doing in their

37:00work is really reflective of this town

37:03vision, even if it's just to keep it top

37:04of mind. Because what really stuck out

37:06to me, and I I don't know that we've

37:08gotten there, but the feedback from the

37:11community um or the committees in town,

37:13a lot of people weren't even aware this

37:15was in existence. And there people that

37:17are involved in committees are heavily

37:19involved in town. So for them to not be

37:21aware, I think it just needs to be more

37:24at the front of their mind.

37:26>> I'll I'll ask this question and it's I'm

37:28I'm kind of leading the question. I'll

37:30admit that. Um go for it. Part of the So

37:32the the town does produce an annual

37:34report uh each year. Um it's a thick

37:39document um that has kind of all of the

37:42um kind of what departments and boards

37:44and committees have been up to and and

37:46analyzes that. Is that a useful resource

37:48to to residents in the modern era or

37:52should that is that something that we

37:53may want to revamp?

37:55>> I feel like the annual report is a

37:58little antiquated.

38:00I think that

38:02I don't know how how you would even go

38:04about like making it more accessible or

38:09but um

38:12I think

38:14maybe something online or I don't know

38:16what how it is right now like if it's a

38:19link on our website and you can just

38:21pull up like the annual report or should

38:24it be more more broken down accessible?

38:28I don't I don't know. I think it's maybe

38:32antiquated.

38:36>> Please go ahead.

38:37>> Um

38:39up until a couple of years ago, you

38:41didn't have a communications person on

38:42staff and I think that you've had you're

38:45now in your second one and they both

38:47they're both very good at what they do

38:48and they really municipalities are just

38:51learning of actually how to market and

38:54communicate in the current age. put

38:58Tanner on this and say, "Here's the

39:00phone book that is the annual report.

39:02What would you do to actually get

39:03communicate that out?" And let them rip

39:05into it and do video highlights and call

39:07outs and that sort of thing.

39:09>> And you're always going to need that

39:11phone book. You're going to need for

39:12legality reasons like the the deep dive

39:15and the metrics and whatever,

39:17>> but you now have a very useful tool in

39:19that staff person.

39:21>> Let them go rip into it and find a way

39:25to do that.

39:26But what just back to one other thing as

39:29far as like what the um like how often

39:32the departments meet and what are

39:33they're doing. They in theory should

39:36have plans of what they're doing in the

39:38next year, what their short-term goals

39:40are, what their long-term goals are.

39:43>> Does it seem useful to folks that

39:45wouldn't we want to know that early on

39:46now? Yes. and not just have us over here

39:48in lane number two like looking at

39:51rainbows and whatnot while these you

39:53know folks are over here with their this

39:54is what they're actually planning on

39:55doing for the next one two three years

39:58like can we have that as early on in

40:00this process so that we can

40:02>> springboard off of that. So during the

40:04uh the budget hearings uh at finance

40:07committee every year that we do every

40:09department is allotted time and the past

40:11few years we've been asking them to uh

40:13verbalize their goals what they've

40:16achieved and all that. I think it would

40:18be a very good idea in in uh

40:20continuation of your thought that maybe

40:22we had some addition to what the master

40:24plan achievements were.

40:26>> Uh what guided them to make those goals

40:28as in conjunction with the master plan

40:31and what have they done to achieve and

40:33that's a public hearing so that people

40:34actually hear it. It's recorded. We go

40:37over three days of of of those public

40:40hearings and and I think that's a great

40:41place where people can actually evaluate

40:44where we are at as far as our master

40:46plan is concerned

40:47>> and not to be over presumptuous but

40:50>> should the department should we be

40:52following the department's plan or

40:54should we be should they be following

40:56our vision?

40:57>> Exactly. But I think we should be at

40:58least aware. We should at least have the

41:00information. So we're not we're not

41:01guiding them and they're not guiding us

41:02but we should be aware of

41:04>> needs to be reckoned.

41:05>> Yeah. ask

41:07>> just I'm I'm just wondering if we're

41:09maybe veering a little bit too far into

41:10the weeds as far as what our role is

41:13here as a master plan steering

41:14committee. And I think the other thing

41:16that didn't exist in 2016 when the most

41:19recent master plan was published was the

41:22strategic plan. And I think that if you

41:24look at the strategic plan, that's where

41:26you're going to see the connection with

41:27department goals and the work that's

41:30being done on a day-to-day basis in the

41:32town and how now that we have a

41:34strategic plan that's the overarching

41:36plan to which everything ties into, how

41:39does the master plan fit into it?

41:42>> How are they different?

41:43>> Yeah. And I also

41:45>> what is the difference? Yeah. I'm really

41:47I'm genuinely curious. I don't know what

41:48the difference. I would think the master

41:50band's more of the vision

41:52>> and the strategy is basically how we get

41:53there, right?

41:54>> But I think a lot of what I'm hearing is

41:56just going to conflict with what is

41:59being done as far as requiring

42:01>> the work of the town to to be documented

42:04based on what's in the strategic plan,

42:06right? Because you know when you sit at

42:07finance committee when these departments

42:09are coming before you, anything that

42:11they're asking for in a budget item has

42:13to be tied directly to the strategic

42:14plan. It's never been tied to the master

42:16plan. So, I just want to make sure we're

42:19not going too far in a direction where

42:20we're becoming really granular in an

42:23area where it should be town staff's

42:24role to be thinking about day-to-day

42:26operations, but this this group of

42:28people is supposed to be thinking more

42:31broadly about what kind of community we

42:33want to have and what's the vision for

42:35our community.

42:37>> So, I I think that's a great point. So,

42:39I I think when we look at this process,

42:41um I want to be clear and I I don't want

42:44to draw a distinction between staff

42:46goals and community goals because I

42:49think this process is really intended to

42:52blend those goals together. Um and I

42:54think that's where we look at that

42:55higher level visioning of the community,

42:58but as the process to develop that

43:00vision, we are looking at here are the

43:03staff operational goals for the

43:05community. Here are the town's goals.

43:08You'll have a chance to discuss the

43:11operational goals of the community and

43:13make sure that they are aligning with

43:15the community goals and likewise the

43:17community goals will be reviewed by

43:20staff and we'll be picking out you know

43:22how is that accomplished what are the

43:23challenges to accomplishing those

43:25visions and how do those integrate with

43:27the operational needs of the community.

43:29So I don't want to have that distinction

43:31between staff and community. It's really

43:33integrating those visions and making

43:35sure that both of those are operating

43:38together and and working together

43:41towards a shared vision for the

43:42community.

43:44>> Where where can we find the strategic

43:46plan? That seems like an important

43:48document that we should be aware of.

43:49>> It's on the town website.

43:50>> That's on the town website, but I'm

43:52happy to circulate that as well.

43:53>> Well, I didn't know it existed, so I can

43:55certainly look for it. Can

43:56>> I make a a recommendation? our student

43:58representative. I feel like it could be

44:01a great senior project to like figure

44:03out how do we simplify the town website

44:06and make it more accessible, more easy

44:07to navigate. How do we take that big

44:10chunky 500page annual report and make it

44:13digestible? Is it Tik Tok videos? Is it

44:16short form videos on Facebook for people

44:18my age? Like I don't know, could be a

44:20really interesting

44:22>> and that's also interested in in doing

44:25that. I think we should really um you

44:28know change how we communicate because

44:30not only like is communicating to them

44:32but social media is good for getting

44:34feedback from the community and I think

44:36that like for a lot of young people they

44:38just don't even know where to look

44:40because I feel like the town primarily

44:42uses Facebook and Instagram to get

44:44information out on social media and as

44:47far as I know I I don't know any young

44:49people who are hanging out on Facebook

44:51these days. Mhm.

44:53>> Well, and I wanted to flag that as well

44:55because I think we have such a vast

44:57generational

44:59um spread of people that we're trying to

45:01communicate to and I'd hate to leave out

45:03our seniors and I'd hate to leave out

45:04our high schoolers and kind of everyone

45:06in between. And so it it's always seems

45:10to me that there's not a single stream

45:11of communication that is effective. It's

45:13all of the above sort of mentality. So I

45:16I think just recognizing that, you know,

45:19with this we want to engage all the all

45:22the different um you know age groups of

45:25people in town because they're all using

45:26the services and using it differently.

45:28So, it's something that I'm very

45:30cognizant of even in like our community

45:34work and surveys of, you know, how many

45:37seniors do I know that are going online

45:39to look at the website, you know, um or

45:42interact with that, you know, um or, you

45:45know, we do post a lot on Facebook.

45:46That's a great flag, right? And that's

45:48maybe leaving out some younger people to

45:50be engaged. So,

45:54>> thank [clears throat] you. Good great

45:55discussion. all the things that will um

45:58help shape and inform the plan. So,

46:00thank you.

46:00>> I think Lisa has her

46:01>> Oh, okay.

46:03>> Hi. I just want to share one thing. As

46:06when we were developing the plans, um

46:09let me just share my screen really

46:11quickly, Laurel.

46:13If I can do that. One sec.

46:18>> When we were developing um Do you all

46:20see the Excel spreadsheet?

46:22>> Barely.

46:23>> Yeah. Very faint. Okay. What I what I

46:27was going to show my screen, let me

46:30know. Do you all see it now?

46:32>> Yes.

46:33>> Okay. What I was going to mention was

46:36that um when we talked a lot about, hey,

46:39has the master plan since 2016, have we

46:42done the goals, policies, and actions?

46:44Some of these policies are are like

46:47you're coordinating with DOT, you're

46:49coordinating with the police department.

46:51That's just in progress. Maybe it's not

46:54100% complete, but it is in progress.

46:57So, when we're looking at the update,

46:59there were a lot of these policies and

47:02then under it, the action items are in

47:05progress. Maybe they're not like 100%

47:07complete because it's a continuous

47:09collaboration. But that's something that

47:12when we're going through, we were taking

47:14a look to see has it been completed or

47:17not? What's the progress of it? And

47:20we've done that for every one of the

47:22elements as well.

47:25>> Can we get a copy of this as well?

47:28>> Yeah, it's in the master plan, but I'm

47:30happy to provide a a copy.

47:32>> I love a good Excel sheet.

47:34>> Thank you, Lisa. Okay. Thank you. So, we

47:38we'll go move on to our visioning

47:39activity, but I was so glad to hear all

47:41your different voices and things that um

47:44you're coming to this meeting, spending

47:46your time, and you're listening

47:47patiently and reviewing information that

47:48we send to you. So, thank you for

47:51sharing some questions, concerns, some

47:53things that are um you know going on in

47:56your minds as you um engage and work

47:58through this. It's greatly appreciated.

48:00So, our activity um is just again

48:04beginning to kind of look at the 2016

48:06vision um and talk about things in it

48:09that you think would be worth keeping,

48:12changing, or adding. Um

48:15and

48:20Just to go over what is a vision to

48:21refresh everyone's memory. Um in terms

48:24in light of a vision for a master plan.

48:26Remember a master plan uh comprehensive

48:28plan master plan for a town really is a

48:31plan um to set sort of the land use the

48:34land use future land use vision goals

48:37policies. How do you want the town to

48:38look um regarding open space regarding

48:41housing regarding economic development.

48:42So it's really a land use plan. um and

48:45it comes up with goals that are

48:47aspirational but then strategies that

48:50are um things that would guide decisions

48:53policies and decision- making in the

48:55town and then the action items below

48:57that that would be more of those

48:58metrics. So specific things to identify

49:02um for example open space that isn't

49:04permanently protected that might be

49:06vulnerable to development to identify

49:08that and maybe have it as a goal for the

49:10town to look to acquire those lands when

49:12opportunity arises. um and and gets more

49:14into the granular, the nitty-gritty. Um

49:16but again, it's more of a a vision for

49:19um

49:20the future. So, a vision for

49:22comprehensive plan helps paint a mental

49:24picture of what residents want their

49:26community to look and feel like in the

49:28future. It's aspirational in nature, and

49:30it's a target for what the master plan's

49:32goals and actions aim toward. It also

49:35helps set a policy direction for the

49:37plan by conveying community values,

49:39community strengths to lean on, and

49:42community challenges to work to address.

49:45So, Shrewsbury has a community vision

49:46from the 2016 master plan that we can

49:49build on for this 2026 update. And that

49:53leads into our activity for the evening.

49:57Um, that are also on the forms that you

50:00had at your places. The same idea. So we

50:02can Laurel has a a miro board which is

50:06an online

50:08board um poster board that she can put

50:11online stickers on

50:14um and we can go through that exercise

50:16so we can kind of um popcorn it if

50:18anybody would like to share if you've

50:20gotten to that point yet or if you want

50:21to take some time to read through the

50:24vision. Oh, Nicole, chair, I was going

50:26to ask if you might like to read the

50:292016 vision or if you would like to ask

50:30for a volunteer. If somebody could read

50:32that out loud, I think that might be

50:33helpful for us. We can see it with our

50:34eyes but also maybe hear it and then we

50:36can sure

50:37>> go into it. Thank you. Uh the

50:38[clears throat] 2016 vision, our 20-year

50:40vision, let me make this bigger because

50:42I do have a [laughter]

50:45Our 20-year vision for Shrewsbury is we

50:47will be a prosperous community,

50:49continuing to be one of the most

50:50attractive towns in the region for

50:52businesses and residents alike. Our

50:54neighborhoods will be beautiful and

50:56strong, providing good homes to all

50:58resident to residents of all backgrounds

51:00and a ages and children who live in

51:03Shrewsbury will continue to have access

51:05to the highest quality schools. Our

51:08local economy will be a diverse

51:09collection of businesses and industries

51:11across a wide range of sizes and

51:14sectors. These businesses will provide

51:16an uh employment across many income

51:19levels and they will be encouraged to

51:20explore innovation in both product

51:22development and business practice. Local

51:25government will play a critical role for

51:27the everyday quality of life for our

51:29residents, the ability of our businesses

51:31to thrive in the protection of the

51:34natural resources necessary to a healthy

51:36community.

51:37>> Thank you.

51:38>> Yeah.

51:43>> So, Nicole, as the chair, I'll let you

51:45call on.

51:45>> Yes.

51:46>> Um, did anyone get a chance to go

51:48through it?

51:50>> I did write some stuff. Um,

51:53>> we'll hear your stuff. Okay.

51:55So what I really liked about the vision

51:58uh one line I think which captures it

52:00all is basically the quality of life for

52:02our residents. I think that means open

52:05spaces that means quality schools that

52:07means so many things many things that we

52:10touched upon. So that's really a very

52:12powerful uh line in my opinion. Um

52:17couple of things change add I mean I I

52:19think it's more of ad rather than change

52:21but uh I am a fincom person finance

52:24committee and over the eight nine years

52:27um another member had also mentioned

52:29that how do we pay for all this stuff um

52:32so there has and and we're seeing that

52:34in budgets we're seeing shortfalls we're

52:36seeing uh departments saying that oh we

52:39can't afford this we can't afford that

52:41we can't employ these many people we

52:43need to achieve this So there has I mean

52:46I know this is as Beth was saying we

52:48have a strategic plan for that but um I

52:51feel somewhere we have we do have the

52:53name the word in prosperous community in

52:56the first sentence.

52:58>> I was thinking of adding both

53:00environmentally and economically pro

53:02prosperous community

53:04>> because that does I mean we don't want

53:05to get into the nitty-gritty that we

53:07need more money and how we get the money

53:08but

53:09>> economics is important and good

53:11economics is good for the town. It helps

53:13us have good budgets. We can pay for

53:16stuff. Um I've also talked to a lot of

53:18people and this is the last point and

53:20I'll let other people take. I mean there

53:22a lot of people here with a lot of

53:23information they want to add. Um two

53:26things. Uh the word has been coming up a

53:28lot. Um

53:30>> environmentally economically prosperous

53:32and engaged community. I forgot to add

53:34that because uh we've talked a lot about

53:37people don't know what's going on. uh

53:39they hear it through word of mouth that

53:41information may be wrong and and that's

53:44on us as well as as town uh um

53:47representatives to get that word out. So

53:48the engagement is very but we have to

53:50get that word somewhere in there. And

53:52last but not least um

53:55I know this is a controversial topic but

53:57affordability is a problem

53:59>> uh across the state and across the

54:01country.

54:02>> Um and there are people who want to move

54:04into this town. there be very qual good

54:06high quality residents I feel but um um

54:09affordability is an issue some so

54:11somewhere over there um we do have a

54:14word um um

54:19business as far as businesses across

54:21various I've forgotten where I've done

54:23>> any income level

54:24>> any income level business and maybe also

54:27residential um um opportunities across

54:31income levels

54:33>> those are the things that um I basically

54:36came up with

54:37>> that came into my mind.

54:40>> I'll piggyback off of that because I

54:42also had in what would you add to this

54:44vision? Um I had affordability as well

54:46and I had underlined that because

54:48affordability concerns is something that

54:50came up a lot in all of the documents I

54:52was reading. um like with residential

54:56resident concerns. Um but people had

54:59talked about like how are we supporting

55:00renters, young people or first-time home

55:03buyers. Um seniors aging in place. So

55:06all of that kind of ties back to that

55:07affordability concern as well. Um I had

55:10also underlined accessibility. I don't

55:13think I saw that in here anywhere. Um,

55:17and then something I wouldn't change it,

55:20but as I was reading it and as I was

55:22thinking back on what I had read in a

55:26lot of the documents and a lot of the

55:27input from residents, it felt I know

55:30businesses are important, but it felt

55:32very businessheavy and there were

55:33concerns that were expressed about

55:35commercial overdevelopment

55:37um, again in a lot of the documents I

55:39read. So, that was something that I just

55:41wanted to point out as well.

55:45I noticed that as well with the

55:46businesses. Out of the nine lines, four

55:48of them are dedicated to to businesses.

55:51And so it felt like um uh whereas our

55:55schools was half of a sentence, right?

55:57So there uh I think it it feels uh like

56:00an opportunity to represent the

56:02residents more. And

56:04>> I I I also see there's a lot of

56:07generalized things that lack what

56:10they're how they're defined. like

56:11prosperous could mean different things

56:13to different people or providing good

56:15homes could be different, right? What is

56:18a diverse collection of business mean

56:20and and how do we defined our quality of

56:22life here? So, while they are feel-good

56:26words, I don't I don't connect with them

56:29of how that would apply across the

56:32entire community of people and if um our

56:34our thoughts and views on them would be

56:36different. Um, and so I would really

56:40change uh that piece be more explicit

56:44about what we mean in these statements.

56:46Um, and have them apply broadly. And um,

56:52I also think something around a

56:54welcoming community is something that is

56:57important to include.

57:00>> Um,

57:01>> yeah. whether you're you're visiting or

57:04living here, you should feel, you know,

57:05a part of a community.

57:07>> So,

57:08>> I don't mean to interrupt you, but I had

57:11>> said add the word inclusive.

57:14>> You know, we said we'll be a prosperous

57:18community. And I wasn't crazy about that

57:20word at all.

57:21>> Yeah. [laughter]

57:22>> Because that feels a little like if

57:25you're struggling financially, you're

57:27not part of this community. And that's a

57:30very bad thing to be saying. And I would

57:33like to have the word inclusive added in

57:35there somewhere. Um, and welcoming. I

57:38like that word as well.

57:40>> I know most of us in the room have long

57:43tenure ties to Shrewsbury.

57:46I I guess my biggest surprise in going

57:48through this was this doesn't seem very

57:52It put us back in 2016. This doesn't

57:54seem very aspirational.

57:57And like I I think like like I like when

58:00I moved here in 2005, I would have said

58:03strong schools, diverse, you know,

58:06collection of businesses. Maybe it could

58:08maybe it's different. Maybe it's better

58:11over the 20 plus years. But I guess as

58:14we're going through this exercise,

58:18this seems to be more of a who we are

58:21versus

58:23what we want to be. And and I guess I

58:27don't have a a strong opinion either

58:29way. Is is this who we want to be or who

58:31we are? And if it's who we are, do we

58:34need to be or if it's who we want to be,

58:36do we need to be a bit more aspirational

58:39in our in the words that we use and the

58:42concepts that we throw out there.

58:45>> You just said something that really

58:46resonated with me is that like if you

58:49just closed your eyes and read this,

58:50this could be about anywhere in the

58:52world, right? Yes.

58:53>> And I I think uh having is it Leah on

58:56the phone speak about the spirit of

58:57Shbury and the essence of what that

59:00event feels for me that even though

59:02we're 40,000 people and we were only

59:0420,000 when I uh was, you know, growing

59:06up here is a big change, it still feels

59:10really small. And I think our community

59:13uh like the you know our community

59:15members make it a very special place

59:17that feels small and connected even

59:20though we've grown in so much um you

59:24know in so little time. So I think I

59:26think about what you just said there and

59:28like I don't know if it connects with me

59:29even like of who we are really in some

59:31ways. [laughter]

59:32So,

59:34>> just looking at this, I'm just wondering

59:37like you're saying build off of this,

59:39but do we have to build off of this?

59:40Because it really doesn't feel like it

59:42resonates

59:43>> with the current time that we're in. I

59:46think it's missing um the commitment

59:48that the community seems to have made

59:49towards sustainability, you know, with

59:51the the carp that was recently

59:53developed. Like, there's nothing in here

59:55about um you know, trying to reduce our

59:58impact on the environment or get to

1:00:00those climate goals. And I think that

1:00:01there's a really big uh group of people

1:00:04in town for whom that's really

1:00:05important, myself included. And then I

1:00:08agree with comments made about including

1:00:12inclusivity. Um whether that's, you

1:00:14know, whether it's like there's so many

1:00:18different ways, right? It could be the

1:00:19accessibility piece, people with

1:00:20disabilities, it could be people of, you

1:00:23know, different faiths or different

1:00:24races or different genders. like there

1:00:26needs to be something that says that you

1:00:28know we see these different kinds of

1:00:31people in town and that everyone here is

1:00:33is welcome. So I would echo those those

1:00:36comments as well.

1:00:37>> So Beth to answer your question um this

1:00:40was just a launch point and from the

1:00:42boxes just from the committee we'll get

1:00:44greater public input also yes you can

1:00:46create a completely new vision. Yeah. So

1:00:49if that's what happens that's totally

1:00:51fine. This was just a It's hard to go

1:00:53from nothing to a vision, but when you

1:00:55can react to the previous vision, it it

1:00:59allows for this great input. So, thank

1:01:00you,

1:01:02>> Shannon. I appreciate your comment about

1:01:04the business part of this, but that is

1:01:06the engine that could help the town get

1:01:09to where we want to go.

1:01:11>> Businesses have money. Um, and I was

1:01:14surprised when I read through again the

1:01:16business plan at how low our tax rate is

1:01:19compared to the other towns around us.

1:01:22And it just reminded me two of my

1:01:24friends just sold their houses, one from

1:01:25Holden, one from Grafton, and they moved

1:01:27to Shrewsbury and they are seriously

1:01:30loving it because they're in a great

1:01:31town and they're paying about twothirds

1:01:34of the taxes that they were paying

1:01:36before

1:01:37and they could pay more. So I see uh we

1:01:42certainly we can't ask seniors to come

1:01:43up with the money and as you said

1:01:44Vickrim

1:01:46>> the money has to come from somewhere if

1:01:47we're going to do any of this stuff.

1:01:49>> Um and we it seems like we need to

1:01:54create some sort of an engine within the

1:01:56town to get us some goodsized

1:01:59businesses. We've got the space for

1:02:01them. If you look on 20 plenty of spaces

1:02:03we don't need another car dealership.

1:02:05>> No. if we had a, you know, a substantial

1:02:08employer, that would be great for the

1:02:10town. So, um, I' I'd like to see

1:02:12something like that that says we have

1:02:15the ability to attract and retain good

1:02:17businesses for our town.

1:02:20>> Yeah, I 100% agree. I think it's balance

1:02:22in my mind.

1:02:24>> Balance.

1:02:25>> Yeah,

1:02:26>> I agree with that, too. But yes,

1:02:28>> maybe we make that like our fourth

1:02:29homework assignment. we all try to take

1:02:31a stab at coming up with like our own

1:02:33version of what the vision statement

1:02:35should look like.

1:02:37>> So on the back to the um what would you

1:02:41keep, what would you change, what would

1:02:42you add? Um

1:02:44>> adding in kind of on Shannon's um

1:02:46comment about sort of people uh

1:02:50supporting people from all in all stages

1:02:51of their life. So, not just, you know,

1:02:54businesses thriving and schools, but

1:02:56we're focusing on young people, young

1:02:59adults, we're focusing on seniors. Um,

1:03:01so people supporting families in all

1:03:03stages of life and and establishing

1:03:06systems within the community that are

1:03:09allowing people to thrive in all stages.

1:03:12Um, I think we've made a lot of strides

1:03:14like this. looking at this 2016

1:03:17vision, um it doesn't really say

1:03:20anything about sort of social services

1:03:22and social safety net programs and I

1:03:25think that we became more acutely aware

1:03:27of that through the pandemic. Um

1:03:29inclusivity and things like that being a

1:03:31more welcoming community. Um I think

1:03:33we've made great strides despite the

1:03:35fact that this vision doesn't mention

1:03:37anything about that and I think that we

1:03:38need to continue moving in that

1:03:40direction. Um so adding things um with

1:03:44that I agree with uh you know

1:03:46highlighting

1:03:48um our commitment to sustainability

1:03:52um protecting natural resources.

1:03:55Um we sort of look at this you know

1:03:57holistically if you step back and look

1:03:59at it a master plan should sort of

1:04:02address physical economic and social

1:04:04development that would guide growth land

1:04:07use and infrastructure. Um, so that's

1:04:09something else in here. We don't really

1:04:11talk about infrastructure. So that's

1:04:13something that we should include in it.

1:04:16>> Um, and managed, you know, well planned

1:04:18growth, managed growth.

1:04:22>> I think there was definitely like a lack

1:04:25of emphasis on well open space but

1:04:29protection of our natural resources. Um,

1:04:32I think that root it's the figure you

1:04:36threw out, which is crazy to me, is

1:04:39that, you know, it was a town of 20,000

1:04:42and now we're at 40,000. That's huge

1:04:45growth. And there's Route 20 has been

1:04:50like I think a lot of our what we could

1:04:53do um would come from like redevelopment

1:04:57of these spaces. encourage businesses to

1:05:01redevelop already paved parking lots and

1:05:04things like that that sit abandoned on

1:05:07Route 20 as opposed to like clearcutting

1:05:11forests and uh really chewing up all we

1:05:16have for o open space. Like I kind of

1:05:18look online sometimes like at Shrewsbury

1:05:21aerial imagery of the town and there's

1:05:25not a lot of like connected open space

1:05:27corridors and that's what you really

1:05:29need for like a thriving like

1:05:32>> uh ecosystems and natural processes and

1:05:36stuff. So actually having large tracks

1:05:39of land that are not

1:05:42diced up like little like a pizza pie.

1:05:46it should be intact. Um and

1:05:50um an engaged community I think is

1:05:52really important. I

1:05:56worked previously for a municipality and

1:05:59I thought it was incredible that we

1:06:02couldn't even get quorum for a town

1:06:04meeting one year and it was a special

1:06:07town meeting but still [laughter]

1:06:10I thought that was crazy because we were

1:06:12a town of 14,000 people and you can't

1:06:15even you know get you know quorum for

1:06:19your town meeting. So I think an engaged

1:06:22community is definitely something that

1:06:25you know we should emphasize and want to

1:06:27encourage people to actually partake in

1:06:29the process because I also think that a

1:06:32lot of people don't even know how like

1:06:34municipal

1:06:35government actually works and the

1:06:37processes that we like have to go

1:06:39through to get funding to do this to do

1:06:42that. So it's yeah I think if people

1:06:45could actually like really understand

1:06:47what's going on at the like the

1:06:49government level there there's a lot of

1:06:52like uh stuff that you don't even think

1:06:55about that you have to contend with so

1:06:58engaged uh environmentally friendly

1:07:01Shrewsbury would be

1:07:04>> the the work going on with the form of

1:07:07government team

1:07:08>> does that impact

1:07:11this deliverable at all?

1:07:13>> I don't think so.

1:07:14>> Should it?

1:07:15>> I don't think so.

1:07:16>> I probably more in terms of the

1:07:18strategic plan, I would think. Right.

1:07:22>> But but like [clears throat]

1:07:24>> like community engagement might look

1:07:26different.

1:07:27>> Yeah. If we're under a city council

1:07:28>> city council but I think wrapped before

1:07:32>> but the right but the point is

1:07:34engagement is important. How we do it

1:07:36could be different.

1:07:37>> Yeah. Yeah.

1:07:38>> Um I I had a lot of similar ones to all

1:07:42of you um mentioned for green space

1:07:45continued green space. That's something

1:07:46I haven't really thought of before. It's

1:07:48that's a great thought. I it also

1:07:50brought me back to reading the start of

1:07:52the 2016 plan and it states that a group

1:07:55can't be overly benefited or burdened by

1:07:58anything that it is that we decide to

1:08:00do. And on the business piece, I, you

1:08:03know, being a business person, I think

1:08:04the same way businesses have money, but

1:08:06I think we have to temper that. And I

1:08:08wrote down um we have to temper that

1:08:11with quality of life for our residents.

1:08:12So if we're just saying businesses come

1:08:14in, have at it, have at it, what's going

1:08:16to happen with traffic, what's going to

1:08:17happen, you know, with the burden on the

1:08:19the residents even if our taxes are low.

1:08:21So I have um mentioned businesses coming

1:08:25in. Something that I wanted to add uh

1:08:27businesses coming in to make an impact

1:08:28on the local tax base. while also having

1:08:31um a positive effect on the quality of

1:08:33life for residents. So having a a push

1:08:35pull there. Um infrastructure for the

1:08:38future. So really planning for the

1:08:39future. We all saw what happened with

1:08:41the the high school. Um it was out of

1:08:44capacity when it opened. So certainly we

1:08:46don't want something like that to happen

1:08:48again. [snorts] Um any words on here

1:08:51that were really I call them fluffy. So

1:08:54something like a beautiful and strong

1:08:55community. What? I don't have no idea. I

1:08:58just don't. um prosperous community. I

1:09:01really don't know what that means either

1:09:03um to be honest. So any of those fluffy

1:09:04words providing good homes I I don't

1:09:08Okay, sure. That's great. Um I just

1:09:10don't know what that means. Even the

1:09:12healthy community piece. So I I think we

1:09:14have to be very very very specific and

1:09:16intentional in the words that we use and

1:09:18not use general fluffy language. um if

1:09:22we want it to be an inclusive community

1:09:25where people you know from all walks of

1:09:27life I think we have to be hyper hyper

1:09:29specific. So for me changing would be

1:09:32anything that's just not grounded in

1:09:35something anything fluffy.

1:09:36>> Yeah.

1:09:38I had picked out the word beautiful too.

1:09:41Our neighbor neighborhoods will be

1:09:43beautiful

1:09:45>> according to who? [laughter]

1:09:47>> Exactly.

1:09:48>> Like

1:09:49>> we might all have extremely different

1:09:50ideas of what is a beautiful

1:09:52neighborhood.

1:09:52>> And the other piece too, Chris, this may

1:09:54be a question for you. The businesses

1:09:55will provide employment across many

1:09:58income levels.

1:10:00I mean, I don't think you are here in

1:10:012016, but I wonder if the intentionality

1:10:03behind that was to actually have those

1:10:05businesses employ a lot of people in

1:10:06town. Was that the goal?

1:10:09>> Yes. I mean, I started shortly after

1:10:11this uh plan came into place. Um, again,

1:10:14I you I don't there was broad inputs

1:10:16that [clears throat] went into a lot of

1:10:17the language that's in there, but I

1:10:19think largely what what there was

1:10:21looking at is rather than just

1:10:23attracting um highincome employment

1:10:26sectors, how do we attract um there was

1:10:29a focus on supporting mom and pop

1:10:31businesses um and that kind of you know,

1:10:34businesses that support local residents

1:10:36and of all income levels. So again

1:10:38looking at that uh piece of

1:10:40affordability one of the key um elements

1:10:43of uh the 2016 plan was about

1:10:46crosscutting elements. So when we look

1:10:47at affordability what are the economics

1:10:50of affordability

1:10:51um and cross cutting. So how does the

1:10:53town economy and the town economics

1:10:56support affordability? How how does the

1:10:58local business sector support

1:11:00affordability? And how does

1:11:01affordability play into our objectives

1:11:04for uh engaging with the business

1:11:06community? That makes sense. The final

1:11:08piece that I had um and then obviously

1:11:11leave it to anyone else. Something

1:11:13didn't sit totally right with me with

1:11:15local government will play a critical

1:11:17supporting role for the everyday quality

1:11:20of life. I

1:11:21>> I almost want something there about

1:11:23local government is is leading or

1:11:27providing the infrastructure for X Y and

1:11:30Z of what we want supporting role. I

1:11:33think a the majority of this work is on

1:11:35local government. So, I don't know that

1:11:37it's necessarily a supporting role.

1:11:40>> An enabler.

1:11:40>> What's that?

1:11:41>> An enabler,

1:11:42>> right? Like I just supporting role

1:11:44didn't really feel right to me.

1:11:46Obviously, the residents are at the

1:11:47forefront, right? But in terms of

1:11:49>> the I I just I I think that could be

1:11:52worked on if we leave something like

1:11:54that in there.

1:11:55>> We don't include anything here about

1:11:57safety of the community as well. And I

1:11:59was thinking that when we were talking

1:12:00about like a beautiful neighborhood,

1:12:01like what does that even mean? I'd

1:12:04rather have a safe neighborhood, you

1:12:05know, and it's and we are an incredibly

1:12:08safe community and I think that's

1:12:09something we need to continue we need to

1:12:11always strive for and and work towards

1:12:14um and not just be complacent and I

1:12:16think that's something important to

1:12:17include

1:12:20>> if uh I could add. You can add. Of

1:12:23course you can. No, dude. Go. [laughter]

1:12:25Uh it mentioned that with the half

1:12:27sentence uh children uh who live in

1:12:30Shrewsbury will continue to have access

1:12:31to highest quality schools and I want to

1:12:36add like or something like that like

1:12:38reliable reliable access to highest

1:12:41quality schools because um

1:12:44>> because we have we have a lot of schools

1:12:45near your town center like uh patent uh

1:12:50floral kind of uh coolage etc. I don't

1:12:54what's the other one? Spring Street. Uh

1:12:56we have Oak and Sherwood. Those are

1:12:57pretty close. And then you get to the

1:12:59high school, which is kind of

1:13:01>> it's like a 20-minute drive. It's it's

1:13:02like on opposite side of town. It's kind

1:13:05of difficult for people to get there.

1:13:06So, transportation isn't nice. Uh school

1:13:09buses like aren't free and for

1:13:12residents. And if

1:13:14>> those costs could be subsidized somehow

1:13:16by our local government, that would be

1:13:18pretty nice. And I think it would give

1:13:20people access to better access to the

1:13:23education because we do have pretty good

1:13:25schools. Was

1:13:32anyone and I don't want to put anyone on

1:13:34the spot but if anyone was here in 2016

1:13:37>> why was the phrase and they will be

1:13:40encouraged to explore innovation in both

1:13:43product development and business practic

1:13:45[laughter]

1:13:47>> we try and get biioarma places to come

1:13:49>> but like I don't

1:13:51>> it just seems kind of

1:13:53>> yeah I think you know want to say

1:13:55something more eloquent than it seems

1:13:57weird but it seems weird.

1:13:59>> It's like

1:14:00>> again I think there's probably a lot of

1:14:02inputs that were going into though into

1:14:03that. I do know you know biotech was

1:14:05kind of emerging in the area. Uh it was

1:14:07a an element that people were looking

1:14:09at. It's probably a a broader vision of

1:14:12>> not just saying biotech. Do you think

1:14:14any of this and and I only participated

1:14:16like in community engagement like large

1:14:20group I remember being like in the

1:14:21senior center doing like table exercises

1:14:23with a group of people. Did any of this

1:14:25maybe stem from trying to redevelop

1:14:27Allen property scent maybe that might

1:14:30have been on people's minds? I know that

1:14:31was part of the

1:14:33>> the time frame.

1:14:34>> It could have been way

1:14:36>> you know trying to build that out for

1:14:38business. Yeah, I think there was a lot

1:14:41of business elements that were looking

1:14:42that were objectives there. You know,

1:14:45there's been um you know, concern about

1:14:47balancing the the residential and and

1:14:50commercial tax base broadly. So, um you

1:14:52know, how that's accomplished has been

1:14:54has factored into a lot of conversations

1:14:56and um looking at um business

1:15:00attraction. So not only biotech but we

1:15:02were kind of emerging into some more

1:15:04economic development activities locally

1:15:07um which had not been done before. So

1:15:10expanding on those opportunities um

1:15:13resulting in some of the the merchants

1:15:15associations and other organizations

1:15:16that we have currently. So

1:15:18>> I think a lot of

1:15:19>> that language back

1:15:20>> I can just like continue reminiscing

1:15:22about like I remember it was like a very

1:15:24different time right because it was this

1:15:27plan I know it was published in 2016 but

1:15:30I think we were working on it maybe two

1:15:31years prior because we were still

1:15:33working towards getting that 2014

1:15:35override passed and so at the time that

1:15:37we were like doing these tableling

1:15:39exercises we had like 32 kids in a first

1:15:41grade class and like things were feeling

1:15:43really um just tight there felt like a

1:15:46lot of pressure to be able to really

1:15:48afford the things that were important to

1:15:49people in the community. And it wasn't

1:15:51just that there were pressures at the

1:15:53schools, but there was pressure in the

1:15:54municipal budget to try to provide

1:15:56enough dollars to do whatever could be

1:15:59done, but there was that sort of dynamic

1:16:01happening in town and right, seven

1:16:03overrides had failed and the eighth one

1:16:05was like coming up for a vote and it was

1:16:07really just like this really critical

1:16:09time. And so I think maybe some of the

1:16:10discussion was like, okay, well, we know

1:16:12we're looking down at needing an

1:16:15override and if it doesn't pass, it's

1:16:17really going to change the kind of

1:16:19community that Shrewsbury is and what

1:16:20people have been really used to as far

1:16:22as the quality of their schools and

1:16:23their municipal services. Um, and maybe

1:16:26trying to look for the kind of relief

1:16:27valves that would, you know, sort of

1:16:29take us through a really challenging

1:16:31economic time. That's just what I I

1:16:33remember from

1:16:34>> the strategic plan discussions back

1:16:37then.

1:16:39I think like when it comes to that

1:16:41sentence about, you know, ex businesses

1:16:45being encouraged to explore innovation

1:16:47and all of that, it's a weird, it is

1:16:49weird. I agree. There's no better word

1:16:51for it. Um, but I think that it comes

1:16:53from, you know, uh, businesses, like we

1:16:56can have a business open up and they're

1:16:58going to pay property taxes no matter

1:16:59what. But it's like personal property

1:17:01that comes with like sort of higher

1:17:04quality businesses like high-tech

1:17:06manufacturing, biotech, like any of

1:17:08those types of things versus like a

1:17:10warehouse and like you know like that

1:17:14type of thing can in it brings better

1:17:17paying jobs and a more variety of jobs.

1:17:20Um, but it also brings in like property

1:17:23more property taxes, personal property

1:17:25taxes into the town. So that can help

1:17:27support like on the economic side. Um,

1:17:29you know, it's not a business isn't a

1:17:31business isn't a business. So it's like

1:17:33but that is a weird way to go about it.

1:17:35So [laughter]

1:17:38>> I have one more ad that my fellow school

1:17:40committee members would I'd be remiss if

1:17:42I did not say this and I didn't think to

1:17:44say it before. Um I I do think we need

1:17:46to flesh out the school piece as opposed

1:17:49to just half a sentence and adding

1:17:50something um so this would be in the ad

1:17:52category adding something about career

1:17:55opportunities or allowing students to

1:17:57have different career paths um

1:18:01>> whatever that may look like. So really

1:18:03fleshing that piece out. And just to add

1:18:06to what Nicole was mentioning, I was

1:18:08just thinking when you were also talking

1:18:10about it. Uh uh opportunities for

1:18:12children is just not schools. I mean

1:18:14what about the recreational development

1:18:16and for the younger ones before they're

1:18:17not even thinking what careers at that

1:18:18time. So the work all the recreational

1:18:21stuff we have with the town. What can we

1:18:23>> what can be part of our vision to help

1:18:25uh develop kids our younger people and

1:18:28even our seniors. Mhm.

1:18:31>> There are two words that keep coming

1:18:33back to my mind as well looking at this

1:18:35overall is um to add or incorporate and

1:18:40it's around thoughtfulness around how

1:18:42we're building our town out and or the

1:18:45things that we're changing and working

1:18:47towards is being thoughtful about it. Um

1:18:50you mentioned some of the property on

1:18:52Route 20, right? And um we can be

1:18:54thoughtful and proactive about how these

1:18:56empty spaces

1:18:58um might be utilized and um kind of

1:19:02safeguard from other things like we've

1:19:04done recently about um the data like um

1:19:07trying to avoid data centers, right?

1:19:09We're being proactive about what we

1:19:11don't want, but we can also be

1:19:13thoughtful and proactive about, you

1:19:16know, um thinking about how spaces are

1:19:18being used or could be used instead of

1:19:20waiting for someone to come in and

1:19:22present a plan that we don't like and

1:19:23then, you know, Yes. Um, so I I think

1:19:26somehow including like thoughtfulness

1:19:29and proactive approach um to this would

1:19:32be

1:19:33>> Do we have an open or like um do we have

1:19:37an inventory almost of like parcels in

1:19:41town that

1:19:43>> are open space or

1:19:46>> So we have an open space inventory and

1:19:48we also have uh townowned inventory as

1:19:51well. Okay, because that's I always try

1:19:55to look and see like I'll look at the

1:19:58aerials and say like, okay, there's

1:20:00properties connected to this property.

1:20:02If you could save this and save this,

1:20:05then it would be a contiguous habitat or

1:20:10um even just or just large open space

1:20:14for people to enjoy. But um I think it's

1:20:17definitely more proactive. I also were I

1:20:23remember like this was probably like

1:20:25post 2020 the warehouse boom. There was

1:20:29like a warehouse.

1:20:31We were getting the town I worked for.

1:20:32We were getting like at least three

1:20:36proposals for these giant huge

1:20:40warehouse buildings that are like and

1:20:42they're paving and cutting down trees

1:20:45and like I you you know trees you can

1:20:48cut down that's fine but um to have it

1:20:53be a parking lot

1:20:54>> fine. [laughter] Well, trees also I love

1:20:57to plug this. Trees take up a lot of

1:20:59sunlight. So like if you cut them down

1:21:02more more different types of herbaceous

1:21:04[clears throat] stuff can grow. So it's

1:21:06not always terrible to cut down the

1:21:07trees. But if you're cutting down the

1:21:09trees and putting a huge parking lot

1:21:12there, it's kind of like discouraging

1:21:14>> expanses of grass which are also

1:21:16>> Yes. Yes. grass landscaping like regular

1:21:19turf lawn is not ideal, but that's

1:21:22what's used, especially in a lot of

1:21:24these like housing development

1:21:26proposals. It's always like landscaped

1:21:29areas and you know, it's just grass.

1:21:32It's grass.

1:21:33>> Yeah.

1:21:33>> So, I don't know. Proactive is better

1:21:36than reactive because there's [snorts] a

1:21:38lot of it. It's hard when things come in

1:21:41front of the town that are like there's

1:21:44not much you can do if you don't own the

1:21:46property. If you don't own it, they have

1:21:49the right to develop it. And if they

1:21:51meet the regulations and the standards,

1:21:53they can take that and do what they

1:21:56please with it. And a lot of people too

1:21:59like I work for Mass E so like we get a

1:22:02lot of appeals that are kind of like

1:22:05frivolous appeals for from people who

1:22:07just want to stop the development but it

1:22:10it doesn't you know result in anything

1:22:13because they can meet the standards and

1:22:17that's all they have to demonstrate. So

1:22:20proactive is better.

1:22:22>> Grant.

1:22:23>> Yeah.

1:22:23>> Can I back?

1:22:24>> I've listen I've listened to a lot of

1:22:26this. Okay. And we all have these really

1:22:29nice ideas,

1:22:31>> but you private property rights rule the

1:22:34world. Yes. Okay. So, if you want to

1:22:37have parks that are contiguous, you

1:22:39can't do it

1:22:40>> because you can't take the property.

1:22:43>> So, you have to work with what you what

1:22:45you got. We can't we can't say, "Well,

1:22:49we want to encourage high-end businesses

1:22:52when you got no businesses." You need to

1:22:54open it up. you, even if it's a

1:22:56warehouse, even if it's a data center,

1:22:59>> you can't just sit here and say, "We

1:23:02only want jewelry stores or we want

1:23:06high-end factories and things." It just

1:23:09doesn't work. You've got to open it up.

1:23:11If you want to get development alone 20,

1:23:13you can't restrict it to death and say,

1:23:15"Well, we don't want that kind." Well,

1:23:17why not don't we want that kind? That's

1:23:19a property tax. That's an employer. I

1:23:22think we're being too narrow in our

1:23:24focus. We've got to be really careful

1:23:27about things like restrictions and

1:23:32encouraging. We can encourage all we

1:23:34want, but that doesn't change what

1:23:37business people will do. They'll they'll

1:23:40build the business that they think will

1:23:42thrive in the area they're in. That's

1:23:45business 101. You can't sell ice cream

1:23:48and then Klondike. It's really hard.

1:23:51>> So, let's keep that focus. Let's not get

1:23:54too far.

1:23:55>> No. And but you can also

1:23:58>> cutting down trees. Tony's got plenty of

1:24:01room left. Cutting one tree.

1:24:03>> Uh I also disagree. I

1:24:05>> I know.

1:24:06>> Cleared my backyard.

1:24:07>> But I will say you can take inventory of

1:24:09these things and say, "Hey, this would

1:24:11be really awesome for the town to if we

1:24:13could preserve this parcel and it's up

1:24:16for sale." Or we approach people who

1:24:18say, "I'm going to sell my

1:24:20>> All it takes and we're going to All it

1:24:23takes is money."

1:24:24>> Yeah. Exactly.

1:24:25>> I got a $100,000 property. You want to

1:24:27make it into a park? Give me the

1:24:29$100,000.

1:24:30>> Right.

1:24:30>> Okay.

1:24:31>> I get it. Hey, I get it.

1:24:33>> Can I just 50 grand?

1:24:35>> Say something that I think we also need

1:24:36to make sure that we're not getting

1:24:38bogged down in minutia. And it feels

1:24:42like some of what we're getting into now

1:24:45is we're getting bogged down with

1:24:47>> details rather than

1:24:51vision.

1:24:51>> Exactly.

1:24:52>> You know, our vision isn't we want this

1:24:55property and that property. That's

1:24:56>> that can't work. I agree with you.

1:24:59>> There's just one more thing I' I'd like

1:25:01to add and Christine, I'm sure you you

1:25:03would feel strongly about this. We are a

1:25:06very old town. We we're a historical

1:25:08town and

1:25:09>> some way somewhere in this vision we

1:25:11have to add we need to celebrate our our

1:25:14historical um um our historical

1:25:18structures like the school the fire

1:25:20engine that that they bought I think a

1:25:23110 year old fire engine that they have

1:25:25and things like that. I mean that's part

1:25:27of celebrating who we are collectively

1:25:30no matter where we came from. And

1:25:32Vicram, thank you for bringing that up.

1:25:34The our history is right here in the

1:25:36walls behind us. These are all annual

1:25:39reports from the past 150 years, right?

1:25:42>> And Shbury has a very rich historic

1:25:44tradition that is part of our character

1:25:48and those who came before us worked very

1:25:50hard to preserve it and make sure that

1:25:52it was still here for us today. It's

1:25:54it's our basic character of this town.

1:25:56somewhere throughout this vision

1:25:59statement. I hope something like that is

1:26:00reflected. Thank you so much for

1:26:02bringing that up.

1:26:05>> These the books you want us to read,

1:26:07Chris. [laughter]

1:26:10>> Well, thank you all. You I mean,

1:26:13>> wow, what a great start. Like I said,

1:26:15this isn't the end. This is um the

1:26:17beginning of the discussion and um yes,

1:26:19sometimes you get into the weeds and you

1:26:21should pull yourself back and that'll be

1:26:23the process. Um but did everybody have a

1:26:25chance to talk and contribute if they

1:26:27wanted to? I think I heard all voices

1:26:29which is wonderful. Um so um thank you.

1:26:33Um for the closing activity I don't even

1:26:38think you need to bring you can bring

1:26:40back up the slides maybe is just

1:26:42reminder about the question of the month

1:26:44the October question of the month. We

1:26:46have a schematic of the project schedule

1:26:49which was on our um first slide deck.

1:26:51Nothing has changed. We are still um

1:26:54relatively on track with the upcoming

1:26:57discovery and visioning workshop um in

1:27:01early November and then uh setting the

1:27:04next meeting date. Nicole, is that

1:27:06something you do? And then I know on the

1:27:07agenda we have review and approve

1:27:09calendar. So I know I don't know about

1:27:11everybody else. Um I'm you somewhat

1:27:15flexible. Um but um the real I mean I'm

1:27:18I'm not really but I mean the scheduling

1:27:21I'm sure people would like to appreciate

1:27:23um and know maybe the next couple

1:27:25meetings if we can. So

1:27:27>> we already did that. Okay.

1:27:30>> We haven't finally blessed.

1:27:32>> Okay. So if we can do that that'd be

1:27:34great.

1:27:34>> Yeah. But we is our next meeting date

1:27:36>> November. November 12th.

1:27:38>> Perfect. And that will be the community

1:27:39forum. So it'll start at 6:30 in this

1:27:41room. No, we we have to figure out.

1:27:44>> So, we have so we're still final so

1:27:46we're still finalizing location. Um

1:27:48given it'll be the community forum. Um

1:27:50we'll probably look for a larger space

1:27:52probably either the library or the COA.

1:27:54Um

1:27:55>> and we were thinking that 6:30 to 7

1:27:57could be the business part of the

1:27:58meeting with approval of minutes and

1:27:59anything else like that and then go into

1:28:01like the open house.

1:28:02>> And can you let us know if we need what

1:28:05we need to do to prep ahead of that

1:28:06meeting?

1:28:06>> Yes. Okay. Yeah, that's perfect.

1:28:08>> Awesome. Um, so everyone, we're all set

1:28:11for November 12th. Uh, that's great. So

1:28:14that's approved. Do I have a motion to

1:28:16approve the next meeting date? I don't

1:28:17know if I need one.

1:28:18>> Do we should I'm sorry. Um, should we go

1:28:20over So we have the list in the folder.

1:28:23>> Are we doing the full right now? It says

1:28:25just

1:28:26>> says to calendar through May.

1:28:28>> Our next meeting is November 11th. Char,

1:28:32>> not the 12th.

1:28:33>> Full calendar.

1:28:33>> No, it's the 12th.

1:28:36>> Did a survey.

1:28:37>> So we did. We just haven't voted to

1:28:39approve the calendar. So that's based on

1:28:41it.

1:28:44>> Chris sent out an email.

1:28:46>> Too many of us week or so ago

1:28:49>> draft though.

1:28:49>> The April date they proposed is during

1:28:51April school vacation and it was like do

1:28:53we kind of that

1:28:55>> we could approve till the end of the

1:28:57year or something through December.

1:29:00November December.

1:29:01>> That's just two more meetings.

1:29:02>> Yeah. Um maybe so why don't we approve

1:29:07the list that was sent out with the

1:29:09exception of April. We'll find an

1:29:11alternative date for that.

1:29:12>> Um just because that does fall during

1:29:14school vacation week. Does that

1:29:16>> Yeah.

1:29:16>> Does that sound good?

1:29:17>> Yeah.

1:29:17>> All right. So um can I read those dates

1:29:20out?

1:29:20>> Yeah, please.

1:29:20>> So we have November 12th which will be

1:29:22our next meeting. Um the times will be

1:29:24adjusted otherwise everything will be is

1:29:27planned for 7 p.m. So but the November

1:29:2912th date because it will also be a

1:29:31community forum the times will be

1:29:33adjusted. We have December 9th, January

1:29:3613th, February 10th, March 17th. We are

1:29:40going to adjust the April date and then

1:29:41May 19th.

1:29:43>> So So with that I move approval.

1:29:48>> Second.

1:29:49>> All in favor?

1:29:51>> I approved. Um, we do not have minutes.

1:29:55>> We don't

1:29:55>> to approve. So, we will approve

1:29:58>> last time's minutes and tonight's

1:29:59minutes

1:30:00>> next

1:30:01>> next time in November.

1:30:03>> Um, anything else before I leave?

1:30:06>> Do you want to collect these feedback?

1:30:08>> Sure.

1:30:08>> Okay.

1:30:09>> Can I get a motion to adjourn?

1:30:11>> So, move.

1:30:12>> Second.

1:30:13>> I.

1:30:14>> All in favor?

1:30:15>> I I

1:30:17>> Thank you, Madam Chair.

1:30:18>> Thank you.

1:30:21Thank you.