Yarmouth CEDC approves $8,914 to hire Barrett Planning for meeting facilitation

The Yarmouth Community and Economic Development Committee on Feb. 11 approved allocating $8,914 to Barrett Planning to provide facilitation, meeting materials and coordination for a series of mock meetings and a final written proposal.

The funding request was presented by Mary Vilbon, director and president of the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce, who said Barrett Planning had facilitated a regional housing meeting and that the firm “facilitated the first meeting for the Housing Trust and Community Housing Group.” The proposal in the committee packet covers four meetings, meeting materials, coordination, travel and mileage and a written deliverable at the end of the process.

Committee members discussed the scope and price briefly before taking a roll-call vote. A motion to allocate the funds was made and seconded; the committee recorded four ayes and approved the allocation. Joseph Manning, Neil Nim, Joe Nim and Courtney Butler voted in the affirmative.

Vilbon told the committee that the first of the mock sessions — a Chamber mock meeting — is scheduled for the morning of Feb. 12 at 10:30 a.m. in the Town Hall Hearing Room. The committee also noted a CEDC mock meeting planned for Feb. 24 at 5:00 p.m. at the police department and two additional combined Chamber/CEDC mock meetings on the last Mondays of March and April.

The proposal’s stated cost is $8,914 and the recommended funding source raised during the discussion was the town’s tourism revenue preservation fund, charged to the economic development line in the budget. Committee members clarified that Barrett Planning’s prior housing work was covered through a regional county contract and that this facilitation work for the CEDC fell outside that county allocation.

No amendments to the proposal were made during the discussion. After the vote the committee moved on to scheduling and adjournment items.