At Tuesday’s Windham Town Council workshop, the Comprehensive Master Plan Implementation Committee (CMPIC) reported on their review of how well Windham is meeting the goals set forth by its comprehensive plan. Four members of the committee – Chris Farmer, David Nadeau, Elaine Pollock and Keith Williams – spoke to the council about the past, present and future of the plan.
Nadeau talked briefly about the formulation of Windham’s newest comprehensive plan and the importance of the plan’s “vision” in regards to how the plan is implemented.
The vision, Nadeau explained, is the first section of the 10-part plan. It lays out goals for the town’s future including economic development, infrastructure and municipal services, transportation, recreation/open space, etc. In keeping with this “vision,” the second section, known as the “implementation strategy,” suggests actions to help the various departments and committees achieve these goals and lays out a time frame for their completion.
Farmer said that the CMPIC had sent out a memorandum in May requesting a written response as to how the departments and committees are meeting the plan’s goals. However, only a few responded such as the code enforcement department and School Board.
With this in mind, Farmer suggested the council make an amendment to the plan’s “charge.”
“What we have proposed is an amendment to the charge to create an outreach that would meet with the responsible parties,” Farmer said.
Farmer clarified to say that the outreach would not reprimand the responsible parties, but rather to educate them as to “the vision of the comprehensive plan and facilitate a discussion so as to follow through and fulfill that vision.”
Keith Williams then asked the councilors themselves to take a more active role. Most of the councilors had also neglected to respond to the memorandum sent out by the committee. The committee specifically asked that the Town Council look closely at the current zoning for Windham.
“What happens with the new comp. plan is the state mandates that the town set up a growth district, a transition district and a rural area for both residental and commercial,” Nadeau said. “The plan has drawn a map that reflects (these districts), but, to go forward with it, the council has to get the ball in motion.”
This is the first round of review for the committee. The committee will be conducting a second round, said Pollock, and, if the charge is amend, they will be meet with department heads and other responsible parties to discuss future implementation of the Windham’s comprehensive plan.
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