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Montpelier Town Meeting, Sept 24, 2002
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BACKGROUND
On Tuesday, September 24, a new kind of Town Meeting was held to bring people together to
continue talking about the future of their community-how should Montpelier look 5, 10,
or 50 years from now? What issues concern people about Montpelier's future?
- Agenda:
- 6:00-7:00 PM: Dinner
- 6:30 PM: Welcome and overview of the evening, announcements.
- 6:45 PM: Celebrating the good things about Montpelier - open mic
- 7:20 PM: Facilitated Table Groups (Woodbury College facilitors and others)
- Envisioning our future -- land, people, buildings, jobs
- Comparing the vision to today
- Obstacles and opportunities -- how do we get there?
- 8:30 PM: Table groups report out
- 8:50 PM: Closure -- Next steps
- 9:00 PM: Adjourn
Information was on display throughout the room and in the halls to help people learn more
about their city.
WHAT WAS HEARD
Below is a synopsis of what was reported throughout
the Town Meeting.
Vision - Values -- back to top
- Montpelier is a vital and viable small town that values:
- All of its citizens regardless of age or background;
- A downtown that is vital, viable, easily-accessed and pedestrian-friendly;
- The provision of goods and services including housing for a economically
and culturally-diverse population;
- Rivers and open areas that are accessible;
- An economy that is able to provide quality jobs and services and
that capitalizes on local ownership, serving as a regional commercial center
and statewide capital;
- Neighborly neighbors;
- Recreational and cultural opportunities
- Montpelier is downtown to surrounding towns - center of life for
this area.
- Everything is connected. Have to take care of all the parts.
- Areas of Concern -- back to top
- Impact of role and presence of drugs in the community
- Protecting/nurturing/supporting kids
- Need for affordable housing
- Keeping downtown viable
- Offering affordable and wide range of goods and services
- Traffic congestion
- Parking needs
- Maintaining open space - Preserve and value open & public spaces
- Participation in government, decisions, community
- Access to cultural and recreational opportunities - Need for public
space, arts, gym with swimming, river access
- Stabilize /reduce Tax Rate
- Keep the good things we already have
- NECI and National Life
- Quality of life
- Character
- School enrollments
- Food security
- Questions -- back to top
- What kind and how much growth. Smart Growth Rate (slower growth, small
developments, do we need to grow?)
- How can we increase the tax base without destroying the things
we love?
- Are police and fire staffing appropriate?
- What are our assets? And liabilities?
- Question effectiveness of regional planning body
- How to make Montpelier attractive to families?
- Will growth lead to larger tax base?
- Are people willing to pay for more services?
Ideas for Consideration -- back to top
- Multi-faceted/Interconnected
- Development of Master Plan needs to include more people. Vision needs
to be community-driven, not governance-driven
- Greater community involvement: with our kids (schools, alternative
education, healthy social opportunities)
- School and community relationship - how to share resources.
- Include surrounding communities in discussions about Montpelier
growth and change. Collaboration with surrounding towns- schools,
water, sewer etc. Possible economies in school and city government regionalization.
- Surrounding towns coordination with Montpelier for shopping/working/downtown
activities
- Provide bike lanes on roadways
- Create an investment entity/community foundation to support civic
needs.
- Have an artist, poet, writer, develop/design your report. Make
it easy to understand and WORK from.
- Need good management plan for our infrastructure: water, roads,
sewer, amenities, services - live within our means, manage for the future.
- More locally grown food in our schools
- Participation -- back to top
- Annual venue for conversations - importance of ongoing conversation
- More large forums
- Brattleboro-style, representative town meeting
- More direct citizen involvement in decisions
- Non-residents who use Montpelier should have a voice
- Creating task forces to study different issues affecting the
city
- Improved networking for newcomers
- Publicize volunteer opportunities - Volunteer data base - So
many needs unmet - create city data base - list needs and resources, then
match
- Communication/Perception -- back to top
- Interactive website for the city
- Work on perception that Montpelier is not business friendly
- Forget about by pass - forget about parking garage - problem is perception
- people need to be able to walk
- Youth -- back to top
- Youth access to State House
- Taking care of kids in streets
- Vibrant school community - activities after school
- Health dialogue with young people
- Youth involvement in city government
- Engage youth to discourage apathy and foster connection - Youth community
center
- Teen coffee house needed
- Youth should be more involved in Montpelier City and State House
issues
- Community involvement for all children - welcome teenagers in downtown
- Improve sense of community for kids, participate with kids in
community, parents and everyone else
- Schools -- back to top
- New middle school
- U-32 discussion to be re-opened
- Solid waste district partner with schools to support local food suppliers/composting
- Introduce "sustainability" into school curriculum
- Lower number of students - how can we support the school system?
- Schools as more of a community center
- Development/Land Use -- back to top
- General
- Environment - Continue scale of city, dense neighborhood development
with diverse architecture
- Mixed use
- Use existing before new
- Encourage closer buildings in built-up area. Do away with existing
zoning/rehabbing european-style (closer buildings). Review zoning - allow
more flexibility
- Keep redevelopment affordable, closer, denser development
- Tax incentives/disincentives to promote property maintenance. Rehabilitation
of run down old houses - Stronger incentives to renovate old, empty buildings
for housing
- Increased vigilance by architectural review board for development
- Set boundaries to development
- Downtown
- Aesthetics Downtown - Flowers, trash cans year round. Rodents/trees.
- Renovate & develop existing downtown buildings. Encourage owners
to improve buildings & develop all floors.
- Maximum utilization of existing commercial/residential space in
downtown.
- Fill downtown vacant spaces with more diverse businesses, especially
night time activities
- Buy out Jeff Jacobs
- Housing
- Need to address all income levels
- Creative solutions for affordable housing w/out crowding downtown,
testing city services
- Create a city replacement housing provision
- Places to live downtown and close to downtown - use of 2nd and 3rd
floors
- Promote cluster housing
- Housing - improve rental units, create new units, study
needs to focus development
- Develop near river - housing
- Infill business
- Open Space -- back to top
- Incentives to landowners to keep land open. Tax or other.
- River - increase access; preserve river banks. Utilization of the
rivers including expanding bike path
- State House lawn as city park
- Green up Main and State Streets
- Maintain existing trees. Add new trees.
- Economics/Jobs -- back to top
- Small business incubators.
- Downtown development corporation
- Create business-friendly regulations and permitting
- Limit franchises downtown - have locally owned businesses
- More manufacturing jobs - more big companies
- Employment - Attract new businesses that offer better paying jobs,
hi-tech, information services, clean industry and research/development
- Year-round "covered" farmers market
- Community/city support for business plan development
- Light foot print, "craft" business outside of downtown -
tax incentives/zoning
- Jobs - Civilian Conservation Corps for unemployed teens and adults - community
service. Recruit clean industry. Identify appropriate location.
- Re-focus economic issues to help fill empty storefronts
- Recreation/Culture -- back to top
- Place for all ages to use in bad weather
- Community Center - focus on older children and teens.
- Skateboarding facility closer to downtown
- Real recreation facility for youth and adults
- Expand bike path, Extend bike path north.
- Skating on Winooski River
- More celebrations of city, celebrations of youth
- Art Center
- Outdoor music venue
- Playground downtown, little kid space downtown. Need some park space
suitable for small children in downtown areas
- Make parking lot behind the Thrush Tavern a multi-purpose facility.
- Taxes/Revenues -- back to top
- Explore local tax options.
- Toll booth on the interstate.
- State pay more to local tax base - increase PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes).
- Traffic, Parking & Transport -- back to top
- Create parking on edges of town, pass system, make bus
more efficient, shuttles to downtown & neighborhoods
- Parking garage downtown - tasteful parking garage (like Hanover,
NH)
- Trains - Burlington/Montpelier and Barre/Montpelier
- Grossman's parking lot with train to downtown.
- Public transportation for elderly and to reduce pollution in convenient
locations.
- Build more rotaries, time lights better
- Public transportation - feed into downtown - Town Hill- Main, Elm.
Northfield.
- Keep the State (and all their parking) inside their complex
- Need multi-modal public transportation buses/trains/bikes.
- Safety/Wellness -- back to top
- Speed limit enforcement
- Sprinklers in all down town buildings.
- Acknowledgement and focus on drug issues/activities
- Expanded efforts to deal with a growing serious drug problem among
city youth and growing potential for violence.
- More visible police presence
- Fix City Hall clock
- Personal Choices -- back to top
- Work and live in town
- More walking
- Adults should be more involved in community service
- Multiculturalism, everyone feels welcomed and comfortable
- Neighborhood gatherings
The following is an attempt to define the challenge(s) and areas where there is
disagreement.
Challenge -- back to top
- Develop and implement a city plan that provides for:
- development consistent with the community’s needs;
- the encouragement and protection of small businesses;
- adequate services for a diverse population from young to old;
- affordable taxes; and
- preservation of Montpelier's unique character.
Create process for addressing concerns and resolving/finding the acceptable solution for
areas of conflict.
Identify and use more effective means of communication between citizens/stakeholders
and governance bodies.
Potential Areas of Conflict -- back to top
- Develop and implement a city plan that provides for:
- Housing vs. Open Space. Limit residential growth while preserving and
maintaining economic diversity. Desire for more housing opportunities. More
housing could affect taxes, schools, services - positively and negatively
- Parking solutions
- Role of State (and Non-Government Organizations) in providing its
part as a major component of the community
- Traffic congestion vs. pedestrian-scale - Accessibility to town
(parking, bridges, traffic) Reroute through traffic?
- Closing off State Street from Elm Street to Main Street for pedestrians
only, development of Langdon Street pathway. Eliminate parking and
traffic on State Street in front of Capitol. Shut down the Ben
& Jerry's crosswalk
- Expand and improve efforts to landscape downtown vs. vandalism
of existing trees
- Use of Sabin's pasture
- More nighttime activity downtown and along riverfront vs. residential
community
- Increase tax base - retain quality of life/sustainable development
- Preserve the scale of our community - Attract more families - create
affordable housing
- Expand/contract design review district
SO MANY THANKS
The following letter was sent by Planning Director Valerie Capels to the Times-Argus,
the Montpelier Bridge, and the Washington World on October 11, 2002:
Dear Editor:
Montpelier's Town Meeting on September 24, 2002 was an evening that will be remembered
for a long time among the more than 350 Montpelier citizens and others who gathered
to discuss Montpelier's future. We heard a lot of good ideas and common themes
among the different groups, including the desire to have more town meetings so
that people can continue to come together to discuss issues affecting the city.
We are still compiling all the notes and will have a report about what we learned
and proposals for next steps. We are also setting up a new section on the City's
Web site (http://www.montpelier-vt.org) called "Works in Progress" where we will
post all of the Town Meeting follow-ups and other goings-on.
The Town Meeting could not have happened without the hard work and generosity
of a great many people. National Life deserves special recognition and thanks
for the generous use of their space. Thank you, too, to Susan Reid of Susan's
Kitchen for preparing the main course at dinner, Jane Edwards for salad fixings,
and to the members of the Community Service Club of Montpelier High School for
serving it all. For donations of food and decorations, we owe many thanks to Manghi's
Bread, LaPanciata Bakery, Cabot Creamery, Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Green Mountain
Coffee Roasters, Hunger Mountain Co-op, Agway Yard and Garden Supply, and Shaw's
Supermarket of Montpelier.
We are also deeply grateful for the generous financial donations from the Vermont
Community Foundation Sustainable Communities Fund, the City of Montpelier, the
Preservation Trust of Vermont, Central Vermont Community Land Trust, Friends of
Sabin's Pasture, Montpelier Downtown Community Association, and the Montpelier
Housing Authority.
Kelly Young and the Woodbury College facilitation team of Alison McGinn, Phoebe
Barash, and Susan Paruch made sure people were heard. They were assisted by a
number of members of City boards and staff.
Members of the ad hoc organizing committee included Marcy Coon, Cheryl King Fischer
(City Council), Paula Francis (Central Vermont Community Partnership), Beverlee
Pembroke Hill (Assistant City Manager), Michael Hoffman (Friends of Sabin's Pasture),
Mary Hooper (Montpelier Downtown Community Association), Paul Markowitz (Montpelier
Conservation Commission), Matt McLane (Montpelier High School), Polly Nichol (Housing
Task Force), Anne Sarcka (Montpelier Conservation Commission), Claude Stone (City
Council), Ellen Tyrrell (Housing Task Force), and Nancy Wasserman (Planning Commission).
Special thanks to Marcy and Ellen for their work in organizing the meal, to Michael
for creating the Town Meeting logo, to Cheryl and Mary for their work in developing
the meeting structure, and to Bev, Polly, and Nancy for fundraising.
And thanks to all who came out that Tuesday evening and shared their thoughts
about Montpelier and its future. We hope this will be the start of a new tradition.
SOME NEXT STEPS ...
- "Teaming for a Healthy Community", 6:00-9:00 PM, City Hall Auditorium. Free pizza dinner provided. An opportunity to:
- voice your concerns and questions about substance use and abuse
- learn about community strengths and resources for help
- talk and share ideas with neighbors, and
- act on solutions.
Please see page 11 of the November 2002 Bridge for more information about this meeting. For more information, contact Central Vermont New Directions at (802) 223-4949.
- Land Use and Transportation Workshop: "Developing Successful Future Transportation and Land Use Systems in Central Vermont", 5:30-9:00 PM (light meal will be served). Christ Church, Parish Hall, 64 State Street. Sponsored by the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission. Join planners, local officials, and intrested residents at a special workshop to help decide the direction for Central Vermont's Long Range Transportation Plan and the Regional Plan. Learn about the current transportation system; set priorities and actions for transportation to support regional land use goals; set priorities and actions for regional land use to support transportation systems; and discuss policies for regional Growth Centers. For more information and to pre-register, contact: CVRPC at 229-0389 or e-mail at cvrpc@cvregion.com
- The next meeting of the Planning Commission will be on Monday, Nov. 25, 2002, at Christ Church, 64 State Street. Among the main topics will be more Town Meeting follow-up plans.
For More Information
Contact:
City of Montpelier
Department of Planning and Community Development
39 Main Street, City Hall
Montpelier, VT 05062-2950
(802) 223-9506
planning@montpelier-vt.org
Updated April 14, 2006
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