Middlesex Town Meeting Solutions Committee
Meeting Minutes
November 15, 2006, 7:00 pm

Present: Susan Clark, Ron Krauth, Tim Murphy, Barb Whitchurch, Greg Whitchurch

1. Possible Action Steps
Susan reported that there is currently a petition circulating in Middlesex to move all financial issues to Australian ballot. A lively discussion ensued. The group discussed the reasons this might be occurring, and possible action steps, including written outreach, neighborhood meetings, facilitating a public discussion/debate voicing both sides of the issue, and other ideas. The group agreed that while the committee has not taken a stand on other issues in town (zoning, etc.) it is appropriate for the group to be opposed to switching to Australian ballot.

2. New Committee Members
Barb suggested that we should recruit more committee members, in particular those who have diverging points of view on issues in Middlesex issues. Susan agreed that diversity on the committee was very important, noting that we had better diversity when Wilson Brett was a member. Susan suggested that since the group’s charge is to improve town meeting, committee members at a minimum needed to be committed to the success of town meeting. The group agreed to keep our eyes open for additional new members.

3. Town Website
Tim reported that he will be updating the website comprehensively next week. Susan presented Greg and Tim with prints of Middlesex Falls, as a thank-you to both of them for their work as webmaster.

4. Zoning Information Meetings
We reviewed the feedback forms from the zoning informational hearings, which were generally very positive. Susan typed up the comments (see below). Susan reported that Peter Hood thanked the group for our work on this.

5. Meeting Minutes from October 11, 2006, Meeting
Minutes from the October 11 Town Meeting Solutions Committee (TMSC) meeting were reviewed and approved. (Oops, sorry, forgot to do this first.)

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:45 p.m.

The next meeting date is Monday, December 11, at 7:00 p.m. at the Middlesex Town Hall.

Minutes recorded by Susan Clark


______________________________
EVALUATION FORM COMMENTS
Middlesex Zoning “Let’s Just Talk” Small Group Information Sessions,
October 11 and October 24

The Solutions Committee circulated an evaluation form, and many participants filled it out. Here is the complete text of the feedback from Middlesex residents:

What worked for me about these informational sessions:

Open-ness; copies of map
Q & A
Small group discussion; well-informed planning commission members
Material and food and greeting us at entrance
Relevant materials were available as informative resources
Copies were made of materials not available originally--thanks
Seating by community was great
Informal; informative
Explanations of questions were very clear -- very open to questions
The calm atmosphere due to the small group
Easy to talk within a small group
Small group and easy feeling for stupid questions
Open forum for any questions

What didn't work for me:

NA
---
N/A
Nothing--great plan, great event
---
None

Additional suggestions, comments:

Thanks
Good information, open to all questions!
Good informational meeting 10/11/06
Thanks for the refreshments! Very organized. Thanks for the postcard invite.
Update old zoning map so the new and old are comparable
Thanks for all of your hard work!
Thank you for all of the hard work in revising the zoning regs from overkill to simpler
Thank you!