Envisioning Future Holliston – aka the Comprehensive Long-range Planning Committee (CLRPC) met recently to continue to flesh out its leadership, focus, and next steps. Chair Stacey Raffi convened the in-person session in Room 105 of Town Hall at 6:00pm.  Fortunately, not all seventeen members could attend so the available space allowed for some distancing.

The first order of business was to elect a Vice Chair and Clerk.  Matt Putvinski was elected as Vice Chair.  Matt and Stacey commented that they will be the Yin and Yang of the committee leadership.  Ann Marie Pilch volunteered to serve as Clerk and the Committee voted to make it official.

The Committee reviewed a proposed outline of the Committee’s work, the potential timeline for the work, and meeting guidelines.  It was noted that the Committee’s charge stipulates a report to be ready for Spring 2022 Town Meeting.  Chair Raffi assuaged concerns by saying that next Spring is not the deadline for a finished product, but rather an update on progress will be delivered.

Ben Sparrell shared some examples of how other towns have gathered information from residents and developed a vision.

A wide-ranging discussion followed on data collection.  The Committee wants to ensure a wide spectrum of viewpoints that results in valid data upon which decisions can be made.  During a brainstorming session (yes, flipcharts and marker time), several questions were captured.  The next step is to distill the list down to five questions which can be part of an initial survey.  The Committee plans to have a booth at Celebrate Holliston (Saturday, September 18^th) to begin gathering data and sharing the Committee’s mission with residents.

The meeting adjourned at 7:03pm.  The next meeting was tentatively scheduled for Thursday, September 2, 2021 at 6:30pm.