Citizen Participation Committee Meeting Notes

May 12, 2004

Present:

Kim Colville , Christine Forde, Polly McMurtry, Diane Meyerhoff, Marti Woodman (Vice-Chair, Acting as Chair).

1. Housekeeping items

• Marti requested a correction to the April 14 th minutes to reflect notification to the VT Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired rather than the National Fed. of the Blind.
• At the last CCMPO Board meeting, Polly updated them briefly about our activities.
• Diane shared her experience from the Int'l Assn. of Public Part. (IAP2) Conference.

2. Public Involvement Project Form

The group agreed that we should make changes to the form and then ask CCMPO staff to test it. Polly suggested a matrix of public involvement tools and the situations when they work well or not. She offered to research this and send everyone an email with her thoughts and/or a draft matrix. Diane wondered if we should “train” staff to use the form, since they are not at all familiar with it. She will follow up.

 

The form was revised by grouping tools and adding new ones (see attached).

 

It was agreed that the committee will review the next draft of the form, finalize it, and Diane will bring it to staff. We will try to do this via email, rather than with a formal meeting.

 

3. Skills for the Next Citizen Participation Committee

The group discussed the next phase of work, namely the review of projects, both before and after project completion. It was agreed that current members will have the opportunity to serve on the newly constituted committee and that additional members will be added. The group thought that an academic type from the UVM MPA Program or the Center for Rural Studies might be a good addition. Diane will follow up. Kim may decide to find a replacement for her seat. Everyone was encouraged to help identify a minority rep. and a senior rep.

 

The Committee recommends that the new committee be formed in time for a September meeting. Their first order of business would be to review staff comments and test the form with the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP). Once they are satisfied the form is useful, it can then be used by all.

 

4. Committee Wrap-Up

The Committee decided to wrap-up its activities via email. Diane will prepare a revised Form and a memo to the CCMPO Board outlining our final recommendations (and how we arrived at them). She will distribute drafts to everyone for their approval prior to submitting them to the Board. Polly will also distribute her thoughts on a matrix to help staff choose appropriate public participation tools.

 

The Committee gave itself a round of applause for work well done. A big thank you to everyone who participated!

 

The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 PM .

 

The next meeting will be May 12th from 1-3PM in the "North" Conference Room.

 

Prepared by Diane Meyerhoff, March 15, 2004

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Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization

Public Involvement Project Form (Revised 5/13/2004)

 

1)  Name of Project:

2)  Type of Project: Scoping, TA, TIP, UPWP, MTP, other:

3)  Person responsible for public involvement:

 

4)  Who is potentially impacted by this project?

5)  Who are the interested parties?

6)  List adjacent property owners:

 

7)  Are there any specific demographic considerations in the study area?

8)  Are there resident or neighborhood organizations?

 

9)  What tools will be used to outreach to the public?

Tool	Details (dates, etc.)	Target Audience	Target Date
Techniques to Bring People Together
Steering or Stakeholder Committee
Meetings/Forums/Presentations/Workshops
Public Hearing(s)
Site Visit or Tour
Open House
Community Fairs
Coffee Klatch/Ice Cream Social
Visiting existing groups at their meetings
Charrette
Visioning
Techniques to Share Information
Direct Mail – postcards/letters/email
Posters/Flyers
Publications - other orgs. newsletters
Publications - press release
Publications - paid ads
Publications - special topic newsletter/ brochure for educational purposes
Publications-newspaper article/insert
CCMPO newsletter article
CCMPO website/listserv
Radio/TV PSA or video
Cable Television program
Telephone tree
Signage at project site
School outreach
Display – utilizing schools, libraries, etc.
Utility bill stuffers
Utilize volunteers to spread the word
Techniques to Compile Input & Provide Feedback
Surveys & Questionnaires (door-to-door, phone, mail, internet)
Focus Groups
Interviews
On-line Message Board

10) How will you involve the following?

• Town government
• Residents
• Business owners
• Underrepresented populations (minority, senior, low-income communities)
• Schools/Youth
• Disabled

 

11) What is the timeline for this project? (see next page)

 

12) Would you like the Citizen Participation Committee to review this proposal prior to work starting? Y/N

If yes, email to dianemeyerhoff@cs.com by the last Wednesday of the month for upcoming agenda.

 

Post-Project Public Involvement Evaluation

13) Which public involvement techniques were most successful? Why?

 

14) Which techniques were least successful? Why?

 

15) What would you recommend to improve public involvement for future projects?

 

16) Request post-project review by Citizen Participation Committee? Y/N

If yes, email to dianemeyerhoff@cs.com by the last Wednesday of the month for upcoming agenda.

 

17) Comments from Citizen Participation Committee:

 

DRAFT – May 13, 2004

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Chittenden County Metropolitan Planning Organization

Public Involvement Project Form (Rev. 5-13-04 )

 

 

Project Timeline (Please adjust the appropriate table to reflect your project's schedule)

 

Public Involvement Activity	Month
	Month 1	Month 2	Month 3	Month 4	5	6

 

 

Public Involvement Activity	Month/Week
	Month 1				2	3	4	5	6
	Week 1	2	3	4