Date: January 15, 2008
Place: Foster Township Municipal Building
Project: City of Bradford Master Plan
Client: City of Bradford
Time: 2:45 pm – 3:30 pm
MCF No.: 44506002
Attendees:
Joe Warner, Bradford-Online.com
Albert Filoni, MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni, Inc.
Ken Lee, MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni, Inc.
Amy Maceyko, MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni, Inc.
Purpose: To discuss the master plan process and get Mr. Warner’s input about how the local internet community could be a part of the master plan process.
Items Discussed:
1. Mr. Filoni began by discussing the goals and the purpose of the master plan. Studies in the past have focused on specific challenges instead of being a comprehensive plan for the whole Tuna Valley. The goal of this process is to develop a series of actionable strategies that all three municipalities can endorse and to engage residents in the process so they will work together to improve the community after the planning process is over. The planning team is meeting with as many groups as possible to understand the myriad of issues that affect all three municipalities and determine the best group of strategies for improving the quality of life in Bradford. One of the major foci of all three municipalities is downtown Bradford and how to make it a more vibrant and inviting place for the benefit of the whole region.
2. Mr. Warner has been reading the meeting minutes that have been posted to the website and he is familiar with what has been done so far. He commented that there isn’t much on the website yet for residents to respond to, it just gives them a chance to learn about the plan. There will be more to respond to once the “interview” and information gathering phase of the process is complete.
3. It would be nice to get a wider community of people involved in the forums beyond the talkaboutbradford.com users. Mr. Warner has created a forum on the TAB site for discussing master plan related issues and there has been some good discussion there. Ms. Maceyko has kept up with those comments. Users are also encouraged to go to the master plan website forums, but some are reluctant and it takes time to build up a “core” of users to keep the site active.
4. Mr. Warner suggests specifically asking committee members to post and comment to the forums to create discussion for more Bradford residents to respond to.
5. Posting press releases or smaller pieces of information might be a good way to engage people. Internet users respond to headlines, text in bold and images more readily than articles. Small chunks are good as well.
6. How can the website be an educational tool? Posting facts to counteract commonly held misconceptions (e.g. welfare population, death of manufacturing). Post comparisons to other communities that show Bradford’s positive aspects.
7. From Mr. Warner’s perspective, the area should be great at attracting corporate headquarters for companies that don’t want to be in big cities. There is great internet access, a nearby airport, access to larger cities, good quality of life, and lots of recreation nearby.
8. The group discussed the disconnect between town and the University. Mr. Warner goes to events at Blaisdell on occasion, but he feels like they could be better advertised.
9. One obstacle that the Bradford Mall will face when it is better used is that people are used to it being empty. It will take effort to connect people to its future use, whatever that might be. This is a problem that downtown has – people are used to stores being closed in the evening and during the weekends, and having people get used to the idea that some stores are now open longer hours or during special events has been a challenge.
With no further items for discussion, the meeting was adjourned. The foregoing constitutes the major items accepted by the attendees. If there are any additions or corrections to these minutes, please notify the Architect.
Respectfully submitted,
MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni, Inc.
Amy P. Maceyko, AIA, LEED AP