The purpose of this memorandum is to invite Town officials, boards, committees, and the public to participate in our upcoming long-range planning project. Each year, the Finance
Committee updates its long-range plan. Periodically, the Finance Committee takes a broader view to consider larger issues and goals.
For instance, in 2009, the Finance Committee set out specific objectives for FY2011-15:
- Increase real estate revenues
- Control growth of employee costs
- Change how we do business
- Manage Capital Spending
- Impact Changes at State Level
- Maintain Financial Health
Now that we are about to begin FY2015, it is time for us to once again refresh our long-range-planning goals.
The Finance Committee discussed our upcoming long-range planning project at our last meeting on June 18. The long-range plan should set out a framework for approaching and evaluating future decisions that affect town government. We anticipate that each topic considered in the final long-range plan will be presented in a summary, bullet-point
manner.
At our meeting, we agreed that the following topics may be worth considering in our next long-range plan:
- Evaluation of 2009 goals
- Peer towns and demographics update
- Town-owned property
- Development mix & zoning bylaw
- Schools
- Health care
- Seniors
- Efficiencies in Town Government
- Financial Policies
We developed a long-range planning process that will try to include as many stakeholders as possible. To that end, we plan to convene a series of long-range planning public forums in the upcoming months. We invite boards and committees with jurisdiction over these topics to send a member to attend these public forums. We also ask boards and committees to consider their long-range planning goals in their regular meetings and through public outreach, trying to build as broad a consensus as possible. At a minimum, we hope that at least one member of each of the following boards will attend our public forums:
- Planning
- Schools
- Selectmen
- Library
- Council on Aging
- Board of Public Works
- Recreation
- Conservation
- OPEB
Other boards, committees, town officials, and members of the public are, of course, encouraged to join in the process
Tentative 2014 Long-Range Planning Public Forum Timeline
- Wednesday, July 16: Introduction, preliminary topics, process points
- Wednesday, September 10: Topics finalized
- Wednesday, October 15: Draft presentation by topic
- Wednesday, November 12: Presentation to the FinCom
