COMPREHENSIVE STEERING

PLANNING COMMITTEE

MEETING

DECEMBER 5, 2006

Present:  Rick Smith, Jenna Smith, David Wood, Dawn Szurek, Dave Adams, Dean Durst, Jim Leupold, Marv Schorr, Dot Mitchell, Supervisor Alan Grattidge, and Town Board Liaison, Sandy Verola.

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by Chair, David Wood.  The first order of business was to approve the minutes of the November meeting.  A motion was made by Dave Adams to approve the minutes as written, seconded by Marv Schorr.  Carried.

The committee reviewed Part I and Part II of the Comprehensive Plan which included the most recent changes.  Under Part I, Dave Wood asked if the names of the committee members should be included in the document.  The committee felt it would be a good idea.  Also to be included will be the name of the Town Board Liaison as well as the consultant hired by the Town. 

It was suggested that any minor changes that need to be made to the document should be kept until after the public meeting, as there may be more edits resulting from the meeting.

Under Part II, Dave Wood stated the only edits he was aware of was the history section.  Sandy Verola asked if was necessary to put the negative comments in Part II from the survey.  After discussion, it was decided all the comments would remain as they are part of the original survey. 

Jim Leupold brought attention to the charts in Part II on pages 69 and 70.  The printing overlaps and needs to be corrected.  Also, Jim stated that in Part I under Section 5, Items for consideration for future Comprehensive Plan updates is not a sentence.  Jim said that under the other Sections of the Plan there is a label, such as Charlton’s Vision for the Future, and Action Plan.  Jim suggests for consistency, there be a label under Section 5 and not Items for consideration for future Comprehensive Plan updates. 

Sandy Verola said she heard from Laura Linder who was not happy with the rewrite of the history section.  Laura would either like to see the history section used in its entirety, or use a shorter version that she has written, or meet with someone from the committee and rewrite the history section with them.  Without seeing the shorter version Laura wrote the committee can’t make a decision whether to use it or not.  Dave Wood told Laura he would get back to her after tonight’s meeting, so he will call her and ask her to email the shortened version to him. 

Next on the agenda was discussion of what should be put into the town newsletter.  Alan Grattidge feels it’s important to give an overview and educate the town on what has taken place in the past year.  It could be an insert to the newsletter.  The committee should summarize the goals, explain the plan, and keep it to one page.  If the public is given an introduction and a short synopsis of the goals and strategies, they will have some knowledge before coming to the public meeting.  Dave Wood, with Sandy Verola’s help, will try to put something together and distribute to the committee for their input. 

The deadline for the newsletter is January 10, 2007.  Sandy Verola said the newsletter can be mailed the first week in February so there’s not more than a few weeks between the newsletter and the meeting.  The date for the public meeting will be Wednesday, February 28, 2007, with a snow date of Monday, March 5, 2007.  The meeting will be held at the church in the Hamlet.  Alan will schedule both dates with the church. 

Dave Wood asked the members of the Town Board how they feel about the Plan thus far.  Alan Grattidge said the feels it’s a good document and is a good starting point for the town.  After the history portion is rewritten, a draft of the Plan can be put on the website announcing the date for the public meeting.  It was suggested putting a watermark of the word DRAFT across each page so people know this is not a legal document and put it on as a pdf file and not a word document.  The document will go under the Comprehensive Plan section of the website with a link to the bulletin board.  Heather will work with John Kelly to put it on the website.  It will be put on as two documents, Part I and Part II.  It was suggested putting a feedback button on the website for public comments.  The committee decided that 100 copies of Part I should be printed for handouts at the public meeting.  Fifty copies of Part II will be printed and handed out if needed. 

It was suggested that Dave Wood and Nan work together on the formal presentation for the public meeting. 

The purpose of the public meeting is to present the Plan, answer questions the public may have, and listen to suggestions and comments they have.  There should be no debate.  After the meeting the committee will discuss the information received at the public meeting and decide whether to make changes to the Plan.  At the public meeting the committee will tell the public the next steps; the Town Board will have a formal public hearing and will then consider whether to accept or reject the Comprehensive Plan.  At the public meeting, the people will be asked to come up front to speak so the microphone will pick up the voices. 

The question was brought up whether the original names of all the committee members should be listed as contributors to the Plan even though some dropped out.  The committee felt the names of those who left should not be listed, but that a sentence could be added stating there were others who contributed. 

A motion was made by Jenna Smith to adjourn, seconded by Jim Leupold.  Motion carried.  Meeting adjourned at 8:05 P.M.