At the beginning of this year, the town council began the process of engaging our community in order to update the Comprehensive Plan. A plan with robust input from the community articulates a shared vision for the future and guides the town in decision making. The shared vision must be rooted in shared values. And the only way to locate those, is through extended engagement.
Community Engagement To Date
I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished already with our engagement outreach. With the help of Berry Dunn, the company council selected to assist us in updating the Comprehensive Plan, we published articles, crafted surveys, and distributed flyers (including one placed in the Valentine’s Day bag on doors to announce the start of the online survey and another to announce last call for the survey).
We mailed letters and handed out postcards at Town Hall when people picked up flowers for Mother’s Day. We shared information on the website, had an Open House, included a Comprehensive Planning table at the Spring Fling, reached out on social media and asked people for input when they dropped by Town Hall to pay a utility bill. In other words, we made it a point to gather input in as many ways as we could over a period of several months. Thank you to everyone who has participated thus far!
Seeking Input On Draft Vision And Values Statements
But it’s not over yet. We are still seeking your feedback. If you haven’t yet shared what’s important to you, please consider reading the values and visions statements on this page, and sharing your ideas for improvements.
Council will be considering the drafts at their next meeting and any feedback you share will be included in their packet for them to consider.
Responses and feedback can be emailed to Town Clerk/Treasurer Margy Greer via mgreer@tomv.org. The deadline for feedback is Wednesday, Aug. 16, at noon.
Where Do We Go From There?
These values and vision statements are meant to be broad expressions of shared values – the community’s aspirations that depict the desired future qualities of our community. They should reflect our aspirational identity, because they will inform where we go from here. After council finalizes the values and visions statements of the newly updated Comprehensive Plan, we will use these statements to help inform the goals, policies, and implementation actions in the subsequent Policy Development phase.
Next Steps
In preparation for this next phase, the town and the consulting team from Berry Dunn will facilitate in-depth conversations with community members on specific topics considered high priorities. These community conversations will build a deeper understanding of the community’s needs in specific subject areas, including the following: housing quality, design and affordability; parks and recreation; and economic development.
If you are interested in participating in these conversations, please let me or our Town Clerk know. And thank you again to all who have contributed their voices to the shared work.
We Need Your Comments!
These draft values and vision statements for the updated Comprehensive Plan have been compiled based on the input the town has received during the engagement period over the last several months.
Please provide your comments to Town Clerk Margy Greer (mgreer@tomv.org) no later than noon on Monday, Aug. 21. Thank you!
