COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING COMMITTEE, TOWN OF GEORGETOWN
Minutes for Monday, January 15, 2018 at 7:00 pm

John McIlvain called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Members Rick Cliffe, Jenn Dobransky, Jason Lang, Jim Peavey, and Bronwen Tudor, Alternate Members Jonathan Collins, Mike Guethle, Vicki Hart, and Stephen Mace were present. Consultant Bill Najpauer attended. Member Rob Lowell and alternate member Kathy Gravino were absent. Selectboard liaison Dolores Pinette did not attend.

Guests in attendance included Don Cowing, Cindi Compton and Joanna Vallade.

Introductions: This was the first meeting with our consultant, Bill Najpauer, present. He introduced himself and all of the meeting attendees introduced themselves to him.

Items to be added to Agenda (if approved by Chair):

●John McIlvain handed out copies of a letter received in the Town Office from Mid-Coast Public Transportation, Transportation Advisory Work Group. It is a notice/invitation for the first “Sagadahoc, Brunswick and Harpswell Transportation Advisory Work Group (S-TAWG) meeting that will take place on Friday, January 19th, 9-11 am, at the Bath City Hall.

Scheduled Appointments/Guests: none

Review of Past Minutes of January 2, 2018: Approval was moved by Jim Peavey and seconded by John McIlvain. Minutes were approved. They will be posted on the Town website.

Correspondence and/or Handouts:

●Letter from Mid-Coast Public Transportation, Transportation Advisory Work Group

●AFC Plan of Action (Peavey)

●Services and Resources for Georgetown Residents (Peavey)

●Public Outreach Ideas (Najpauer)

●(draft) Demographic Section (Najpauer)

●(draft) Prioritized Work Areas within Marine Resources Topic

New Business:

●Age Friendly Community (AFC): Jim Peavey discussed the AFC Plan of Action which proposes to meet with various community groups to give them an overview of the mission and strategy of the AFC Subcommittee and seek feedback from them. The Subcommittee wants Central Committee and Selectboard support to move forward. Jim covered a lot of AFC related research work already accomplished, including the following:

  • The subcommittee is working within the structure of the Comprehensive Planning Committee but they have identified some items that can be implemented near-term.
  • Georgetown has a broad, informal safety net that is providing many AFC type services to residents. The Subcommittee wants to supplement the existing network where there is a need. There is some concern people are reluctant to identify their needs.
  • Members and groups within the community that the AFC Subcommittee wants to liaise with include Mary McDonald, GVFD, GWL, GCC, GHS network, Five Islands Church and Deb Thibedeau (GCS). They also propose to identify representatives in each Town neighborhood and ultimately meet with neighborhood groups.

●Jim passed out a list of Services and Resources available to Georgetown residents. The Subcommittee has been research and meeting with representatives from the organizations sponsoring the services/resources. He walked quickly through the list but discussion was focused on transportation support. Cindi Compton has done a lot of the research and she provided a summary.

  • The Transportation group has researched a number of different models for Volunteer based transportation systems. The one managed by People Plus in Brunswick appears to suit Georgetown’s needs best. This system currently services Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell.
  • People Plus provides dispatch services and the Towns each have volunteer drivers. Needs are posted in on-line software by the dispatchers and drivers select which needs they will support.
  • This program can be implemented in Georgetown inexpensively ($500/year) and reasonably quickly if we confirm there is a need. Bronwen noted that transportation is not just an age issue. Whatever we do should be open to all Town residents.

Public Outreach: Bill Najpauer initiated a discussion of Public Outreach using the outline which he had distributed to Committee members/alternates in advance. He had a number of specific suggestions and there were short discussions of some of the thoughts he put forth.

●We need to complete the inventory sections of the plan first so that we have a solid, factual base.

●We can gather information out of the community in any format, electronic or paper.

●Hold at least two public forums after the draft plan inventory is completed to solicit ideas for the plan strategies.

●Publish draft sections of the plan and make them available on the Town website and various locations.

●Invite interested parties and groups to Committee meetings when items of interest will be presented and/or discussed.

●Setup booths at public meetings/events including Town meeting, GWL Fair, Blessing of the Fleet, etc. Talk with people about the plan and Georgetown specific issues. Provide written handouts for them to take away.

●Setup and man an information center at the Transfer Station on weekends when the weather is nice. Talk with people and provide written handouts.

●Have at least one public meeting during the summer and invite seasonal residents. Rick Cliffe pointed out that the SelectBoard has an informational meeting for seasonal residents and we may be able to piggyback on that.

●Hold at least one formal public meeting, down the road, before the draft plan is presented and discussed at a Town meeting (June 2019).

●Jim Peavey indicated that he believed we can talk to virtually every single resident if we can establish neighborhood groups and we split up the Committee. It was pointed out that we should have a common set of questions used at all the meetings. It was also pointed out that open-ended questions often provide more insight into issues.

●Bronwen Tudor agreed we should talk to all residents but there are many different formats and approaches and different people prefer different approaches.

●There are a few people who won’t participate.

Georgetown Demographics: Bill Najpauer walked through draft demographic information which he put together from various state and local sources. A number of points were made during this discussion including the following.

●We don’t have data on seasonal residents, owners and/or renters. We may be able to get some data through Town tax records and from the informal Renters Organization.

●Much of the data is “estimated” or “projected”.

●Population trends have fluctuated up and down. Records go back to 1790. Georgetown’s population peaked (1088 residents) in 1880. Population overall has been relatively flat since 1990; however, the age makeup of that population has changed dramatically. Median age was 37.4 years in 1990 and 49.6 years in 2010.

●Median house value in 1990 was $96,769. In 2010 it was $323,600.

Old Business:

Marine Resources Subcommittee Report: Stephen Mace handed out a listing of proposed work areas for the Subcommittee to focus on. He has a phone conference setup with Darling Labs on Wednesday to discuss their role and the products they propose to provide. He will ask that they present their plan at a February meeting. Rick Cliffe noted that this Subcommittee has been meeting together with the Shellfish Conservation Committee and that approach is working well so far.

Public Comment: None. Guests participated in the discussions above.

Adjournment: On motion the Committee voted to adjourn at 8:30 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Rick Cliffe
Committee Secretary

Comp Plan Minutes 01-15-18.docxpage 1