Communication Is Key For Sea Camps Agenda

BREWSTER – The Sea Camps advisory committee hosted community listening sessions on Feb. 27 and March 4 to facilitate resident discussions surrounding the bay and pond properties. 

 Around 70 people attended the sessions and were broken into focus groups, with each committee member leading the conversation. Residents were able to broach topics, ask questions and critique the current project plans. 

 In addition to the listening sessions, town officials sent out an online survey to capture feedback from residents who were not able to attend the in-person forums. As of March 12, the committee had received 649 responses. 

 Committee members Adam Finkle, Steve Najarian, Karl Fryzel, Amy Woods and chair Caroline McCarley met on March 12 to debrief. Select board liaisons Mary Chaffee and Cindy Binghman were also present. 

 A consensus centered upon the lack of information residents still have about the project. Najarian said there was an abundance of misinformation when it came to project details. He also said many residents aren’t familiar with the properties, raising concerns about the assumptions the committee has made. 

 Bingham said one attendee thought the bay property was under restricted access with gate guards patrolling the entrance, which is not the case. Currently, both properties are open to the public.

 In the past, the committee has struggled to find the most efficient way to share up-to-date information. In feedback, residents showed a genuine interest in the project as well as committee updates, but they lacked valuable knowledge about the current situation. 

 “I walked away thinking we had to communicate a little bit better,” Woods said. 

 Woods, a member of the communications subcommittee, said she had a number of ideas for new communication methods, such as more use of social media. In an effort to reach a broader audience, she noted that establishing social pages with current happenings would help keep residents engaged and informed. 

 The communications subcommittee will meet on April 2 to go over the session minutes and sift through the survey responses. The group will compile a presentation on next steps to give to the larger group on April 9.

 Chaffee said overall, residents agreed that the vote to purchase the Sea Camps was the right decision for the town. 

 In addition, Town Manager Peter Lombardi and Assistant Town Manager Donna Kalinick have developed working groups to help facilitate all the moving parts. 

The phasing and financing group will be in charge of reviewing the proposals from engineering teams Weston and Sampson and EDR, which specialize in environmental consulting. Officials have had multiple meetings with them, so the feedback of the working group will help provide data for the best course of action. 

The use policy group will evaluate the current policies adopted for the beach, pool and pond property access. Since those policies have been loosely adopted, many changes have occurred, so it will be up to the group to start formalizing policies that best fit those amenities. One example of a major change is the recreation department moving its summer programming to the bay property. This will need to be considered when crafting new policies. 

The third and final group will be the communications and outreach group, which will focus on reviewing feedback and disseminating information. 

The Sea Camps advisory committee will reconvene April 9.