Agenda
Steering Committee Meeting #2
Meeting time: 5:30 to 7:30
Meeting Location: Freeborn-Mower Cooperative - 2501 East Main Street in the “Community Room”
Wednesday August 15th, 2007

  1. Comments/Updates from Steering Committee----------------------- 5 min
  2. Consultant presentation of Community Context Information-------- 30 min
    1. Quantitative (mapping, tables, charts)
    2. Qualitative (photos and observations)
    3. Analysis (trends and patterns)
    4. Three separate scales—regional, community, neighborhood
  3. Steering Committee discussion, observations, dialogue------------- 20 min
  4. Presentation and discussion of draft Vision Statement-------------- 30 min
  5. Preparations for public workshop--------------------------------- 35 min
    1. Approach (confirmation of vision, identification of issues and ideas)
    2. Steering Committee Role at workshop
    3. Marketing/Promotion/Buildup
    4. Follow up
  6. Adjourn-------------------------------------------------------- 7:30 p.m.

 

To:

Albert Lea Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee

From:

Brad Scheib, AICP—Project Manager

Subject:

Agenda Memo:  Steering Committee Meeting #2 -- Comprehensive Plan Update
Meeting Date/Time/Location:  Wednesday August 15th/5:30 to 7:30/Freeborn-Mower Cooperative - 2501 East Main Street in the “Community Room”

Date:

8 August 2007

Hello all. This memorandum is number two in the series of agenda memos that will set the stage for steering committee meetings pertaining to the Albert Lea Comprehensive Plan Update. The following is a brief description of the agenda topics.

Comments/Updates from Steering Committee

We see this as a recurring item on the agenda at every meeting. A role of the steering committee is to serve as a conduit to the greater community. As such, this part of the agenda would be for committee members to share any conversations or other items of interest that are germane to the planning process. We will try to limit this part of the agenda to 5 minutes. Items that merit greater discussion/research/analysis can be placed on future agendas or can be the subject of sub-committee meetings outside of the steering committee process. The sub-committee could then report back to the full committee.

Presentation of Community Context Information (Tasks 1.2 through 1.5 of the Work Plan)

The consultant team has been gathering and synthesizing information about Albert Lea from a number of sources. We will present all that we have assembled to date and our key findings and observations. This will be done through mapping, photo inventory, diagrams, tables and charts. A working summary report will be provided at the meeting for inclusion in your planning handbook. There are essentially two parts to this portion of the work. Part one is the gathering and presenting of information. The second part is the critical analysis of the information, and deciphering what it tells us. At this point, we want to focus on the presentation of what we have gathered and begin to explore the critical analysis and deciphering of information.

Steering Committee discussion, observations and dialogue

Agenda item 3 is devoted to a discussion among the steering committee to reflect on the community context information presented and to help guide the consultant team into the next stage of critical analysis. The information (mapping and data) that we present (and ultimately provide copies of) at the steering committee meeting will be in draft form and will need some verification, confirmation and most likely some correction. Part of the discussion should be on how the steering committee can assist with this step, especially given individuals skills and areas of interest. We envision the possibility of sub-groups forming based on topics or geographic areas.

Presentation and discussion of draft Vision Statement

We are working on drafting a vision statement based on the foundation planning documents and based on the discussion held at the kick-off steering committee meeting. We will bring a draft of the vision statement to the meeting and present it for discussion and refinement.

Preparations for public workshop #1 (Task 1.6)

We will devote this part of the agenda to presenting an approach to the public workshop, discussing the role of the steering committee, identifying a strategy and approach to promoting attendance and finally follow up actions. We will present some preliminary ideas and then engage the steering committee in designing the best approach for Albert Lea. In our preliminary discussions about an approach, we have incorporated the idea of crafting an approach that enables steering committee members to conduct smaller breakout meetings and small group sessions.  Follow up actions will be primarily geared towards how this happens, and how information would be summarized and incorporated into the planning process. We will come to the meeting with ideas and suggestions for tools.

Adjourn

We will adjourn at 7:30.

Please feel free to contact myself at bscheib@hkgi.com (612.252.7122) or Bob Graham, City Planner if you have any questions.