AMPUp Outreach Subcommittee Meeting - Jun 12th, 2025
Hybrid meeting held in the town hall annex. Materials were available from https://www.arlingtonma.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/37029/18.
Meeting in a Box Materials
(Tristan Roubenoff, AMPUp Chair) Mr. Roubenoff says that several of the subcommittees looked at how to supplement questions to find points of dialog. The housing and transportation committee talked about housing-specific questions, especially with renters in mind. They'd also like to talk with realtors, to gain a better understanding of market conditions.
(Rebecca Gruber, AMPUp) Ms. Gruber says the historic resources subcommittee met to talk about questions pertaining to historic resources. The questions they came up with aren't in conflict with the meeting in a box materials, but they are framed differently.
(Tristan Roubenoff) Mr. Roubenoff suggests that each subcommittee send a short list of questions to Ms. Ricker for review. These can be re-used as needed. The supplemental questions could let community groups hold meetings in a box in a DIY manner. Feedback from DIY meetings could be submitted to the town's comprehensive plan email address (ComprehensiveArlington@town.arlington.ma.us).
(Angelique Bradford, AMPUp) Ms. Bradford has an idea for youth "AMP-bassadors", and perhaps inviting people to be AMP-bassadors more generally. We could train them, provide them with meeting materials, and then let them go.
(Lillian Hartman, AMPUp) Ms. Hartman approves of the idea.
(Tristan Roubenoff) Mr. Roubenoff thinks this could build more avenues for participation.
(Rebecca Gruber) Ms. Gruber would like to ensure that subcommittees have a TODO item for developing tailored questions. At the moment we can ask that questions be different than the ones provided in the meeting in a box. At some point, they could be turned into survey questions.
(Tristan Roubenoff) Mr. Roubenoff would like to make coming up with additional questions a July Task.
(Angelique Bradford) Ms. Bradford thinks the meeting in a box questions encourage people to think more holistically, rather than focusing on very narrow, specific concerns. She'd like to hear thoughts on balancing general themes vs specific items.
(Ann LeRoyer, AMPUp) Ms. LeRoyer thinks that people have general areas of interest, even if their main concerns are in specific area.
(Steve Revilak, AMPUp) Mr. Revilak says there's a balance between depth and breadth. Meetings in a box are an opportunity to have conversations, and go into depth. Some events -- like tabling -- are shorter actions that are better suited for breadth. If an event has a theme, we can come up with a general question that fits the theme.
(Tristan Roubenoff) Mr. Roubenoff thinks that some groups will have very specific areas of interest, and we should have questions tailored to them. The Chamber of Commerce is an example.
(Rebecca Gruber) Ms. Gruber thinks that people will want to talk about their experiences as residents.
(Arthur Prokosch, AMPUp Chair) Mr. Prokosch has an aspiration that we can have meeting in a box questions that are relevant to the specific subject areas.
(Tristan Roubenoff) Mr. Roubenoff says we'll need to go back to the subcommittees for those questions.
(Sarah Suarez, Assistant Planning Director) Ms. Suarez offers to work with department staff on a draft of possible questions, to serve as a starting point.
(Angelique Bradford) Ms. Bradford sees small outreach events as a lead-up to Town Day. She'd like a way to capture contact information for people who'd like to talk to us, but can't attend one of our meetings.
(Rebecca Gruber) Ms. Gruber asks if we can use the Town Notices list to announce the meeting in a box, and encourage people to participate. She sees this as a matter of engagement. People should feel like they've been asked to contribute.
(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak asks about the logistics of doing this. Some people have the resources to print their own answer sheets and meeting materials, and others do not. Could we print sets of materials, and have them available at the planning office.
(Rebecca Gruber) Ms. Gruber thinks that subcommittees could step up to help staff, if the response is overwhelming.
(Tristan Roubenoff) Mr. Roubenoff notes that the Meeting in a box materials haven't been posted to the project website. We should make them available there.
(Steve Revilak) Mr. Revilak volunteers to talk to the Economic Development subcommittee about topic-specific questions. He suggests combining the topic-specific questions into a single document, rather than having different versions of the meeting in a box for each topic.
(Tristan Roubenoff) Mr. Roubenoff thinks the meeting in a box questions could be filled out as individual surveys, and the materials should say something to that effect.
There's discussion about leaving the survey and the interactive map open. Subcommittee members think this is a good idea, but the map should appear first on the website, above the survey. We should periodically update the website to say something about the number of responses received.
(Angelique Bradford) Ms. Bradford thinks the meeting in a box materials should be posted to project website in an obvious way. She hopes we can set personal goals for the number of people to contact.
(Rebecca Gruber) Ms. Gruber asks how the meeting in a box outreach will fit with Stantec's schedule.
(Tristan Roubenoff) Stantec is starting to work on topic areas, and Mr. Roubenoff thinks the meeting in a box submissions will help with that.
Interest Group Recap
(Rebecca Gruber) Ms. Gruber asks who Stantec has already talked to.
(Tristan Roubenoff) Mr. Roubenoff asks if there are any groups that have come back with additional questions, after talking to Stantec.
(Sarah Suarez) Ms. Suarez says she'll check with Stantec.
(Clair Ricker, Planning Director) Ms. Ricker says that Stantec spoke with a number of department heads: the Town Manager's office, Finance, DPW, the Police Department, and the Fire Department. They didn't ask about Schools. Ninigret Partners has been talking to a lot of business owners.
(Ann LeRoyer) Ms. LeRoyer asks if Stantec talked with DPCD staff.
(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker answers in the affirmative. Stantec did interview different staff members about specific subject areas.
(Rebecca Gruber) Ms. Gruber says it would be helpful to have staff's suggestions regarding groups to talk to.
(Sarah Suarez) Ms. Suarez says the Housing Corporation of Arlington's Civic Engagement Coordinator has proposed two different meeting times: July 14 and August 18. They believe a mid-day meeting would get the highest attendance from their tenants.
Upcoming Outreach: Farmers Market
(Rebecca Gruber) Ms. Gruber asks how we plan to approach the farmer's market. There will be a lot of different people there. It might be better to have a set of questions, each covering a different topic area. We could let people answer as many (or as few) as they liked.
(Sarah Suarez) Ms. Suarez asks if it would be helpful to have a short handout that explains the basics of what a comprehensive plan is.
Ms. Gruber and Mr. Roubenoff agree.
(Arthur Prokosch) Mr. Prokosch suggests doing outreach at Arlington Porchfest and Arlington Open Studios.
(Rebecca Gruber) Ms. Gruber says the Affordable Housing Trust Fund had a successful outreach at Porchfest. They walked around to different venues, and handed out links to a survey.
(Claire Ricker) Ms. Ricker says that the first survey is technically closed, but Stantec could re-open it if we ask. She agrees that the website should have some way for people to get engaged.
(Ann LeRoyer) Ms. LeRoyer asks if there's a schedule or sign-up form for beer gardens, farmers markets, and other events that might happen during the summer.
(Angelique Bradford) Ms. Bradford says she's working on calendar.
(Tristan Roubenoff) Mr. Roubenoff says we have a schedule for the Farmer's Market. We'll be tabling on the fourth Wednesday of each month.
(Angelique Bradford) Ms. Bradford suggests mentioning the Farmer's Market in the "Events" section of the project website.
Meeting adjourned at 7:48 pm.