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Resident urges clearer materials and stronger facilitation for design workshop funded at $43,000
Summary
A resident who attended a village design consultation workshop asked the board to require clearer, labeled materials and better facilitation at an upcoming public meeting so the $43,000 project yields useful feedback.
Erica Alts, a resident who attended a recent design consultation workshop, used the Jan. 21 public-comment period to ask the Village of Manhattan to improve how it presents information and runs public meetings for a project that the village allocated about $43,000 to complete.
Alts told the board she observed the consultant-led workshop and said some participants spoke over each other and a remote caller could not be heard. She asked the village to press the consultant, Farnsworth, to provide stronger facilitation so attendees each have equal time and so remote participants can participate effectively.
Alts also criticized the handout materials shown at the workshop and asked that the presentation for the Jan. 30 public meeting include clearer direction for attendees: labeled pictures, descriptions and specific questions for the public to answer. She said presenting 20–25 unlabeled images without guidance would make it difficult to gather meaningful feedback.
Alts framed the concerns as a value-for-money issue: the village has allocated roughly $43,000 to the project, and she said the public deserves sufficiently clear materials and facilitation to produce useful input.
The board did not take formal action during the meeting on Alts’s request; it appeared during the public-comment portion and staff or board direction to the consultant was not recorded on the minutes. The Jan. 30 public presentation remains scheduled, according to Alts’s comments in the meeting record.
Background
Farnsworth—identified in Alts’s remarks as the project consultant—was the facilitator at the earlier workshop she attended. Alts recommended the village tell Farnsworth to provide clearer instructions and to label images used in public materials so participants understand what they are being asked to evaluate.
