Canton, Massachusetts · Saved source text

MasterPlan-20241015T180703

Master Plan Implementation Committee · Source year folder: 2022 · Record 81167

Saved text from 5 of 11 source pages. Transcription and OCR may contain errors; verify figures and wording against the original.

Master Plan Implementation Committee Meeting Minutes 
July 14, 2022, 7:30-9:00 p.m. 
Via Zoom 
Master Plan Implementation Committee Members present: Joseph Amrhein (Planning Board), Emilio 
Mauro (Finance Committee), Kristian Merenda (School Committee), Mike Nourse (Historical 
Commission), and Alan Rapoport (Economic Development Committee) 
Master Pion Implementation Committee Members not present: Lisa Lopez (Select Board), Bob 
MacDonald (Conservation Commission), and Sean Robinson (Citizen at Large), Community Preservation 
Committee or Playground and Recreation Committee representative — vacant 
School Committee Non -Voting Alternate: Maureen Moran — present 
Staff: Town Planner — vacant 
Guest: Louis Jutras, Canton Management Information Systems Department, Information Systems 
Manager 
Introductions 
Chair Emilio Mauro called the Master Plan Implementation Committee (MPIC) meeting to order 
at 7:35 p.m. and introduced the members present. 
Acceptance of Minutes 
• Members of the committee reviewed the minutes from June 16th, 2022. 
J. Amrhein moved to approve the minutes as written. K. Merenda seconded the motion. The 
minutes were approved 5-0-0. 
ROLL CALL VOTE 
Amrhein Y 
Merenda Y 
Mauro Y 
Nourse Y 
Rapoport Y 
Other Business 
Upcoming Priorities 
E. Mauro reviewed items that had been identified at the June 16, 2022, meeting as new or continuing 
MPIC priorities for the upcoming year (FY 23) and he asked members if there were any additions to the 
list he had recited. 
Page 1 of 11

The final list of priorities included continuing to promote the Complete Street Program, monitoring the 
Municipal Energy Aggregation Program, monitoring the Affordable Housing Trust and promoting equity 
in housing options, implementing the Trail Master Plan, promoting Transit Oriented Development, 
supporting postponed zoning changes on Route 138, assisting in the selection of a Town Planner, 
improving Canton Center and its related parking issues, monitoring the Galvin Middle School feasibility 
study process, applying the master plan to future uses of the Saint Gerard's property, promoting 
continued progress on the Tilden House, and the Paul Revere Heritage Site. 
There was a brief discussion on safe routes to schools: 
A. Rapoport advocated for an expansion of free access to school buses for both equity and 
traffic relief. 
K. Merenda noted that there is currently a one -mile radius beyond which bus ridership is 
currently free and inside that radius students are encouraged to walk. However, she noted that 
there would be a negative revenue impact if all busses were free to users. 
E. Mauro speculated that in addition to revenue loss, if all public school students had access to 
free school busses, the potential cost increase of requiring more busses to meet the demand 
would also need to be factored into such a decision. 
M. Nourse expressed support forthe MPIC to consider how the Master Plan could be applied to future 
uses of the Town -acquired St. Gerard's site, including possible educational purposes. 
M. Nourse noted that the Tilden House and the Paul Revere Heritage Site are important assets that tie 
into the Master Plan. A brief informational discussion on historical items followed. 
Discussion of Master Plan and Implementation Process 
E. Mauro welcomed guest Louis Jutras, Information Systems Manager of the Management Information 
Systems Department, which is part of the Finance Department. E. Mauro then explained the process 
that led to the development of the Master Plan through a wide range of meetings and surveys led by the 
Master Plan Steering Committee and the hired consulting firm Horsley Witten Group that culminated in 
the adoption of the fifteen -year Master Plan in 2020. E. Mauro then described the finalized Master Plan 
and he described the five-year strategic framework of goals and action items derived from the Master 
Plan and he noted that responsible parties were identified to help reach stated goals. E. Mauro also 
explained how the Master Plan Implementation Committee was created to forward the plan and it is 
meeting with various Town departments and committees designated as responsible parties. 
Discussion of Shared Priorities with the Management Information Systems Department 
E. Mauro reviewed the identified shared priorities between the Master Plan and the Management 
Information Systems Department that were included in the displayed document entitled "Canton 
Master Plan Action items & Management Information Systems Department Shared Priorities 2020- 
2025", which is included in the meeting documents section of these minutes. E. Mauro also emphasized 
the importance of technology in inter -department communication and coordination, in two-way public 
access to government, and overall government data collection and efficiency. He also emphasized the 
importance of training for town employees whether hired or volunteer. He also cited the 2018 Social 
Page 2 of 11

Media and Citizen Engagement Assessment for the Town of Canton that had been developed by the 
consulting firm of O'Neill and Associates and he then summarized some of its main points, which 
included community engagement, social media guideline and protocol recommendations, effective 
content generation and avoidance of misinformation, how to determine the best platforms forthat 
content, branding, department capacity, appropriate training for staff, promotion of social media 
content to encourage public usage, and public and staff education to include two-way proper use of the 
platforms, and the importance of hiring a specialized Public Information Officer. 
L. Jutras felt that the item that needed the most definition for clarification was the "maintain the list of 
data points". He added that there are a lot of resources and tools In place but the priorities and what 
"offshoots" the Town wanted to pursue, one example being trails, needs better definition. Social Media 
is an ongoing development to continue building and the COVID-19 pandemic required that the priority 
be placed in certain areas to address that emergency, such as advancing online public meetings via 
Zoom. Staffing is an aspect that needs to be coordinated with job openings that are available in order to 
build on some items. There needs to be more coordination between departments using a range of 
actions including data points collection and communication both Internally and with the public. Inter - 
department communication and coordination should be a goal and should be built around a solid 
technological infrastructure. The recent pandemic also caused some aspects of implementing some 
technological coordination or expansions to be delayed or sidelined. 
E. Mauro asked if the pandemic has caused the Town to become more technologically advanced than it 
otherwise would be, due to the temporary closure of town buildings and other social distancing 
measures of the pandemic era. Similarly, he asked if the pandemic had changed the Town's approach 
toward technology in any ways. 
L. Jutras said that the pandemic had in some ways changed the technology of the town. For example, 
the Town adapted to have public meetings online and created the data points of how much time is 
being invested by members in holding government meetings through the Zoom accounts. There has 
been a new asset manager software implemented, online submission options, online permitting and 
other similar online accesses to services. There is still a disconnect between that technological capability 
and the capacity to manage the content and have the ideal functionality. Further, he added that vacant 
job openings must be filled to assist with expanding the ability to Improve information services. 
E. Mauro inquired whether the 2018 social media assessment that was mentioned earlier was still an 
accurate assessment for Canton given the four years that had passed since its release. 
L. Jutras said that the base concept is still fine and for the most part It is still a good resource to 
reference. He advocated for the Public Information Officer that the assessment recommended and he 
noted that some significant issues still exist in the effort to have great communication between Town 
departments and between the Town and the public. He noted that there is a website and there are ways 
that for the public to sign-up for notifications, receive automated phone calls, view postings, or for the 
Town to produce surveys, with many licenses already retained by the Town. However, there are a wide 
range of ways that the services have yet to be leveraged to maximize the investment in these 
opportunities. 
E. Mauro asked what the missing point is that is preventing the maximized coordination of information, 
would it be an issue of standardizing procedures or the need to hire a Public Information Officer. 
Page 3 of 11

L. Jutras agreed that there would be a benefit to standardizing practices through determining how to 
use the technology evenly and appropriately to get the information to the appropriate people and 
having a source of central coordination rather than different people in the Town government feeling 
responsible for different parts of the communication and information process. 
Given that the Town municipal information services and Canton Public Schools information systems 
were separate entities, E. Mauro asked if the Management Information Systems Department ever had 
coordination issues with the separate but similar purposed department that manages the computer 
systems of the schools. 
L. Jutras said that the two do often work separately. While there is currently separation between the 
two, he felt that there could be more collaboration and that could also be fostered by the creation of a 
Public Information Officer who could link the departments when needed or useful. 
K. Merenda agreed on the idea of having more coordination and collaboration between the public 
school's website and the Town website regarding meetings, notices, events, or other points of common 
interest. This interconnection would make parents more aware of activities and events across 
departments, such as between the Canton Public Schools and the Department of Parks and Recreation. 
L. Jutras agreed with the civic engagement potential of these collaborations 
A. Rapoport asked if there is an emergency plan for large power outages. 
L. Jutras said there are many plans that are specialized for scenarios where there are neighborhood or 
town -wide emergencies through the fire department and police. He also pointed out that the loss of 
power would not result in a cession of electronic postings because someone could still be able to get it 
even if that meant leaving their area and going to a generator powered town area or outside of town. 
However, there would be non -electronic methods of getting emergency information out, such as door 
to door efforts or megaphone broadcasting in patrolling cars, as well as searching for vulnerable people. 
He suggested that if residents have specific vulnerabilities, such as health issues, they should alert 
emergency staff before a disaster incident when possible. 
E. Mauro and L. Jutras briefly discussed how technology could be used to promote emergency 
preparedness for disasters through online postings and links that informed the public how to prepare. 
There was also a brief related discussion about natural hazards vulnerability preparedness programs. 
J. Amrhein asked about the prospect of hybrid public meetings including in -person and online 
components. 
L. Jutras briefly discussed the technology and logistical needs at Town venues that would need to be 
upgraded or enhanced to make that two-way hybrid communication better or possible. He noted that 
certain venues such as the Salah Meeting Room or the Canton High School Distance Learning Lab are 
better equipped than some other venues. Given the number of public meetings that are regularly held 
by various boards and committees, other less equipped venues that are currently used would need to be 
improved to prevent a scheduling bottleneck at the venues technologically capable of supporting such 
hybrid requirements. 
Page 4 of t 1

L. Jutras also pointed out the organizational differences that a committee would need to master to 
successfully conduct a hybrid meeting, such as dividing responsibilities to make sure that the hybrid 
component is constantly monitored as the committee also addresses the in -person members and 
participants. Training might be needed for this to work efficiently. 
L. Jutras was supportive of installing the setup for hybrid in various locations in Town and he noted that 
some pricing for improvements have been explored, as has expanding Canton Community Television 
capacity at Town venues to support better access for hybrid meetings or meetings in general. 
K. Merenda noted that the School Committee has been holding hybrid meetings for about a year. While 
there have sometimes been some difficulties, the method has been working. Those who want to submit 
questions for the meeting are required to register at least an hour ahead of the meeting and there is a 
monitor. While it has been working, there has not been a noticeable increase in public participation. She 
also mentioned that there was a significant spike in participation at the height of the pandemic but it 
has now returned to normal levels of participation. 
L. Jutras noted that additional staff would allow better quality control for hybrid meetings through more 
technical assistance. 
The MPIC members thanked L. Jutras for all of his hard work at maintaining and improving the Town's 
information services. 
Selection Process for New Town Planner 
As B. MacDonald, who is a member of the selection committee for the new Town Planner, and L. Lopez, 
who is a member of the Select Board, were unable to attend the meeting, E. Mauro largely deferred the 
discussion on this agenda item to the MPIC's anticipated September meeting. 
E. Mauro asked Planning Board member J. Amrhein if there were any updates on the selection process 
that he was aware of through his service on that board. J. Amrhein stated that the Planning Board had 
not met recently but the Planning Board would be resuming meetings the following week, so there was 
no current update. E. Mauro reminded members that at the last meeting there had been an update that 
included the job opening being posted and a selection committee formed. 
Upcoming Meetings 
• The MPIC decided that their next meeting would be held on September 15, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. 
via Zoom, provided online public meetings were still allowed going forward (the continuation of 
virtual meetings was being considered by the state government at the time of the MPIC 
meeting). 
• Future guests were also discussed. 
Adjournment 
• M. Nourse moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:16 p.m. and J. Amrhein seconded the motion. The 
motion was approved 5-0-0. 
Page 5 of 11