AMPUp Advisory Committee - Jul 11th, 2024
Meeting held via remote participation.
Interacting with the Press
Ms. Ricker advises the committee that press inquiries should generally be handled by the co-chairs, herself, and the town's public relations officer. She advises committee members to make it clear that they're speaking on behalf of themselves, and not for the committee as a whole.
Ms. Ricker informs the group that the Arlington Redevelopment Board has chosen two members to serve on this committee, which brings the group to sixteen. The ARB designees are Eugene Benson and Steve Revilak.
The Select Board designee has not been chosen yet, but that should happen before the committee's next meeting.
Consultant RFQ
Ms. Ricker says the RFP document has a number of sections that are required by the Town's purchasing and legal departments. She'd like the group to discuss whether the document should be a request for proposal (RFP), or a request for qualifications (RFQ). As an RFP, applicants would submit prices and the committee would take these prices into consideration when making their selection. As an RFP, applicants would submit qualifications, and those would be the primary driver for choosing a consultant; price would be negotiated later. In either cases, applicants would be informed that the budget for the Master Plan update is approximately \$250k.
Applicants may consist of larger design and planning firms who do all of the work in-house; but, there could be smaller firms that subcontract portions of the work.
There's general agreement about proceeding as an RFQ.
The committee proceeds to discuss individual sections of the document.
Objectives
The Committee discussed the general objectives listed in the draft RFQ, which were
- document a clear, updated vision;
- connect public investment and action to that vision;
- connect regulation to that vision; and,
- update the existing Master Plan roadmap for thinking and acting from a comprehensive perspective.
Committee members discuss including DEI and climate goals in the list of objectives. There's a suggestion to include DEI in objectives one and two. Climate change could be a cross-cutting concern that's mentioned at lower levels -- in the subject areas for housing, transportation, and open space for example.
There's a suggestion that participants of public outreach efforts be representative of the town as a whole, in a measurable way.
Public Participation
Committee members wanted to set expectations for doing outreach to different groups; there was also a desire that public comment be incorporated into the Master Plan, and not just collected. There was a suggestion to strive for parity between on-line surveys, written comments, in person comments, and other forms of outreach and engagement.
Sustainable Land Use
There were several suggestions for incorporating resiliency measures into the sustainable land use area, including potential zoning changes. For example, Arlington's zoning bylaw limits how much buildings in flood-prone areas can be elevated.
There was a suggestion to examine the regional impacts of our local land use decisions. For example building more densely in Arlington could reduce the need for greenfield development outside of Route 495, along with the accompanying traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.
The committee discussed the value of visual preference surveys. One committee member felt they were too subjective. Another felt that these surveys did a poor job capturing context, and the ways in which different elements of a streetscape fit together.
There were questions about whether the Master Plan should attempt to re-do past planning documents, like the Net Zero Action Plan or Housing Construction Plan, or to acknowledge and build on that work. There were questions about whether sufficient outreach was done for these earlier planning efforts.
Historic and Cultural Resources
A committee member informed the group that the (2015) Master Plan Implementation Committee had a historic resources subcommittee that performed further study in the area of historic and cultural resources.
Another committee member felt that the town's historic inventory was both under- and over-inclusive. It's unclear what the standards are for including a property the historic inventory; it's also unclear why specific properties were included.
Open Space and Recreation
Committee members made several suggestions for the open space and recreation area:
- including the roles of habitats and ecosystems,
- including measures for the presentation and maintenance of open space resource,
- understanding the long-term effects of climate changes on Arlington's tree canopy, as temperatures warm and hardiness zones move north,
- adding more emphasis on recreation, and getting people outside to use these facilities, and
- including more about natural resources
Public Services
The public services section of a Master Plan typically talks about buildings and capital resources, such as the high school. Part of this process may involve looking at what Arlington's next major capital investments should be.
Committee members discussed whether this section could be expanded beyond buildings, to include such things as delivery of services, employment practices, employee classification and benefits, and maintenance of capital assets.
There was a desire to look at how we could grow the tax base to provide better financial stability for the town, and a question regarding whether to include schools in the discussion.
Mobility and Access
A committee member suggested the RFQ talk about encouraging mode shift, rather than simply allowing it.
A committee member noted that transportation is an equity issue. For example, some residents are not able to drive, while others cannot get around with an automobile.
Staff will work to incorporate this feedback into the draft RFQ, and
hope to have an updated version next week.
Co-chair Selection
Tristian Boyd is interested in serving as one of the co-chairs. The committee still needs a second co-char.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be Thursday August 8th (this is the second Thursday of the month).