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Consultants outline community-driven strategic plan and town survey timeline
Summary
Consultants Cheryl Trent and Maddie Sheay told the Foxborough Select Board the town will run a statistically significant National Community Survey in Feb–Mar 2026, hold listening sessions and community events over the summer, and aim to present a draft strategic plan for adoption in fall 2026.
Cheryl Trent and Maddie Sheay, the consultants working on Foxborough’s strategic plan, briefed the Select Board on Jan. 20, laying out a timeline centered on a statistically significant community survey and summer engagement events.
Trent, who identified herself as the project manager for the engagement, said the consulting team is partnering with the National Community Survey vendor (PCO) to run a randomized mail sample followed by an open survey; the sampling phase will run in February and most of March, with a report of results due in April. “We truly want it to be statistically significant,” Trent said, noting the mailed packets will include prepaid return postage and follow established methods to generate representative results.
The consultants described a sequence of outreach steps after the survey: stakeholder interviews, listening sessions, community events during the summer (including a presence at Founders Day), a community open house in September and a graphic facilitator-led visioning exercise. The consultants said they expect to deliver a draft strategic plan in the fall and a final plan for board consideration later in the year.
Why it matters: the strategic plan will be the town’s prioritized framework for aligning the master plan, department long-range plans and the municipal budget, the consultants said. Trent emphasized the plan’s role as a decision-making tool: once priorities are set by residents, the town can align spending and capital choices to those priorities.
Board members asked several technical and outreach questions, including how the open-house format will work and whether consultants will staff a booth at Founders Day; Trent and Sheay said the team intends multiple engagement modes to reach residents who do not typically attend meetings. Mark Elfman asked whether existing documents and previous meeting records had been shared with the consultants; staff confirmed they have been uploading and that consultants have been reviewing the materials.
Next steps: the consultants plan an in-person visit in April to conduct listening sessions and meet department heads. The board can expect the NCS results in April and additional public engagement through the summer leading to a draft plan in the fall.
