· What are the attributes of a Land Use Application submittal that were reviewed.
· What can Citizens bring up to express either their Approval or Disapproval.
Councilor Paul stated a couple of years ago the Community Relations Committee
held some Informational Forums, noting that they were advertised, and flyers were
left at businesses around town. He noted as one example that Public Works
Director/Town Engineer Steve Masalin gave a great presentation regarding what the
Public Works Department does, Winter Operations relative to snowplowing,
mailboxes, etc. However, he stated the Committee found that residents were not
attending. He noted that Mr. Masalin’s video was on the town’s website for residents
to watch anytime. He also encouraged the Community Relations Committee to watch
the video to see the format of Informational Forum. He continued by questioning
whether Councilor Brunelle was alluding to something similar (see Item #1 above),
in which the Committee would invite various groups such as the Inland Wetlands
and Watercourses Commission; and others like the Planning & Zoning Commission
to give a presentation, that the public could attend; and have the presentation
recorded for residents to watch; or refer to at a later time.
Councilor Brunelle stated what Councilor Paul described was a good idea; however,
she stated that people do not want to sit through a whole meeting, noting that they
want quick information. Therefore, she suggested they do quick, short videos, like the
“Notify Me” video using bullet points to show residents how Government Meeting
were run, How to navigate the website to access agendas and minutes on-line, How to
submit questions, etc. She stated that she would take on creating the videos, and she
asked if others would like to take on some of the topics that would be great too.
Councilor Paul stated having short, bullet point videos was a good idea. He
questioned whether the videos would have someone talking or whether they would
just be presentation slides. Councilor Brunelle stated the subject matter would help to
determine whether the video would just be a slide presentation and/or someone
talking as they demonstrate how to access the website.
Councilor St. Vil noted that Councilor Brunelle had some good ideas that would be
beneficial for the community. However, he stated that the community also needed a
Forum to ask questions. He stated he spoke to Land Use Director/Town Planner
Elizabeth Burdick about how residents could get questions answered. He noted that
he attended a meeting at which a gentleman had a series of questions, but he was shut
down because it was not the appropriate forum to ask questions. He stated the
questions were not rudimentary questions, noting that they were interesting, such as
could a citizen challenge a request for special counsel to represent the town with
respect to an application, etc. He stated there needed to be a Forum where citizens
could ask their unique questions. He stated right now was a unique point in time in
their town, where there were some Land Use Applications that have drawn a lot of
attention, that people really care about; and they had specific questions on how to
address or provide their input to the Commission on these Applications. He stated
after the August 14, 2024 Town Council Meeting a citizen stopped him to ask
questions about the process. Therefore, he stated they would get the best results if
