Concord advisory board schedules consultant kickoff, readies website and outreach for MCI Concord project

The MCI Concord advisory board for the Town of Concord said it has selected a consultant for the redevelopment of the MCI Concord property and is preparing public outreach materials, including a revamped project webpage and a detailed FAQ, ahead of a targeted consultant kickoff on Feb. 25.

Board members and staff told the advisory board meeting that slides and background materials from recent outreach events have been posted to the town website and that the consultant will help set up a public-facing site with a calendar, feedback form, photo and video gallery and interactive mapping tools to gather community input.

Why it matters: The advisory board described the next weeks as a high-activity period for public engagement. Members said they want to make project information and opportunities to comment readily available to residents and stakeholders during the consultant’s initial work.

At the meeting, staff reported that the Concord Business Partnership event earlier in the week drew roughly 30 to 35 attendees and that the selection panel had “liked” the consultant’s community-engagement approach. The advisory board said a formal announcement of the winning bidder had not yet been made. Staff also said the consultant team (one vendor named in the discussion was Mediate) conducted aerial drone photography and would work with the board on a short voice-over and multimedia content for the website.

Board members described several website features they want ready when the consultants begin: a robust FAQ, an interactive map or “pin” tool for residents to mark sites and add comments, a stakeholder sign-up form and a repository for presentation slides and scanned site maps. Staff said an interior site map provided on the recent tour exists in paper form and will be scanned and posted if available.

Timing and next steps: Advisory members discussed scheduling a follow-up advisory meeting to meet the consultant team immediately after the consultant-led public kickoff. The group targeted Feb. 26–27 as follow-up dates and agreed to meet on Feb. 27 at roughly noon for about an hour to coordinate outreach plans and a timeline; staff said they would send a calendar invite.

Public comment and stakeholder outreach: During public comment, Susan Moloto Zenek identified herself as “the chairperson of the West Concord advisory committee” and offered that her committee could interact with the consultants and host a briefing for its members. Board members agreed to coordinate dates and to add the West Concord advisory committee to the stakeholder communications list if it was not already included. Staff said the existing stakeholder list contains roughly 100 organizations and that the website will provide a sign-up form for those who want regular email updates.

Procedural action: The advisory board voted to approve the prior meeting’s minutes. Aaron moved to approve the minutes; a board member seconded (second not specified in the transcript). Erin and John were recorded as voting “Aye,” and the chair declared the minutes approved.

Other details: Members noted that the consulting team had used creative, participatory engagement techniques in its selection interview (place maps, prompts and small-group exercises) and that reference checks had praised the team’s community materials and diversity of engagement tools. Board members discussed coordinating briefings with other local bodies, including the school committee, and agreed to spread presentation duties among subcommittee chairs.

The advisory board concluded by asking staff to finalize the website content and to circulate meeting invitations for the Feb. 27 advisory follow-up meeting so the board and consultant can finalize outreach dates and formats.