Concord land-use advisers map stakeholder outreach for MCI kickoff, approve Jan. 21 minutes

At a meeting of the Land Use Committee of the MCI Advisory Board for the Town of Concord, members agreed on categories of stakeholders to contact ahead of the consultants' kickoff for the MCI project and voted to approve the minutes from the Jan. 21 meeting.

The committee identified environmental groups (including the Natural Resources Commission and trails interests), recreation and youth-sports users (via the recreation department), affordable-housing organizations (including the housing roundtable), historic and cultural organizations, transportation and public works, open-space stewards, and regional and state agencies as priorities for outreach. Committee members said they want the advisory board to meet directly with community groups rather than rely only on consultant-led sessions.

Peter, a member of the Land Use Committee of the MCI Advisory Board, said the committee needed to be proactive: "We're getting ready to really start the sprint next week," and he urged the committee to generate a short set of questions to give to groups before meetings so feedback is focused and useful to the consultant team. He also said advisory-board members should themselves attend outreach meetings so more than one committee member witnesses each session.

Alisa Brown, who identified herself as a river ambassador with the Wild and Scenic River Stewardship Council, noted the property includes roughly "1,500 feet or so of frontage" on the river and urged the committee to consider riverfront protections and the riverside view shed when they speak with environmental groups. Committee members discussed grouping some organizations for efficiency — for example, inviting multiple open-space and river-protection groups to one meeting — and asked staff to provide a single contact where possible for community groups that currently lack a single lead.

Shannon, a staff member administering the contact list, said she is maintaining the outreach spreadsheet and can change the named "lead" for categories when the committee decides who should take responsibility. The committee asked Shannon to circulate the advisory-board email address and to work with the communications team to notify groups. Members discussed asking the recreation department to convene youth-sports organizations so the committee could meet them collectively.

The committee also confirmed logistical next steps for the consultant kickoff: staff reported the consultants agreed to a 9 a.m. start for a Tuesday kickoff meeting; staff will post an agenda and send calendar invites. A consultant site visit to the prison property is planned; staff said they would confirm with the consultants (via Mark) whether additional advisory-board members can join that site tour. The staff noted the consultant team may include about 16 people from the consultant side.

At the end of the session, a committee member moved and another seconded approval of the Jan. 21 meeting minutes. The motion passed by roll call: Dan (yes), Linda (yes) and Peter (yes). The committee did not take other formal votes during the discussion.

The committee requested that outreach meetings return answers to a short set of common questions: (1) priorities or aspirations for the site; (2) concerns about the site; (3) any special knowledge or data the group can share about the property; and (4) how the group's priorities relate to land use. Members said they would refine those questions with the communications team and the consultants and then schedule meetings with the identified groups.

The meeting closed after the vote to approve minutes; staff will circulate the kickoff agenda and outreach contact assignments to the full advisory board and to the communications team for follow-up.