Thanks to John Osborn for reporting on the Community Preservation Committee’s preliminary recommendations for the 2018 Annual Town Meeting (“Community Preservation Committee backs preservation of town documents, fight against invasive plants,” Dec. 8, 2017). I need to clarify, however, that the recommendations published in the article were tentative, subject to revision, and shared with Capital Planning and Investment Committee, the Finance Committee, and the Board of Selectmen for discussion in advance of a Dec. 19 CPC vote on the final warrant articles. This is why neither Land-Use Administrator Liz Allard nor Town Clerk Marlene Kenney had been informed yet of the CPC’s decisions.
The article asserts that “communication appears to remain a problem,” but the CPC took the initiative this year to invite the Conservation Commission, the Historical Commission, and other town boards to share their plans with us and allow us to share our committee’s opportunities and challenges. We did this to try to manage funds more strategically, instead of simply reacting to whatever applications we receive each fall. We also wanted to increase transparency and break out of our committee “silo.” True enough: Effective communications can be tricky in a town run by small groups of volunteers. All the more reason to keep testing new ways to increase engagement among committees, organizations, and individuals across the community.
Didi Chadran, chairman
Community Preservation Committee
