1 - Why does Natick need a Long Range Strategic Plan at this time?
Natick, along with almost every other community in the region, faces serious challenges regarding growth, development, and financial constraints. A long-range strategic plan developed through broad participation of community members, under the authority of elected and appointed boards will help Natick prioritize investment of limited resources in the context of a long-range vision for the town. It will also help identify outside funding sources to leverage tax dollars and it will increase civic participation in Natick’s local government. The process has the support of the Board of Selectmen, the Planning Board, the Finance Committee, and the Conservation Commission, and the School Committee.
2 - What are the primary benefits to Natick if we adopt a strategic planning process?
There are four major benefit areas to Natick:
a. Provide a rich source of information about the desires of the community to help boards set priorities;
b. Promote Natick as a desirable community for investment and identify areas of leverage to attract additional resources to Natick (businesses, investors, outside funding)
c. Create a process for autonomous boards to collaborate: identifying areas of shared resources and effort;
d. Increase public participation and develop a pool of future civic leaders;
3 - What will the process cost and what is the source of funds?
Town Meeting has appropriated a one-time total of $150,000 which covers the cost of retaining experienced strategic planning and facilitation consultants over a 16 month timeframe. The source of funds applied were a combination of unused snow removal funds from FY2006 and free cash. The Strategic Planning Oversight Committee is seeking an additional $50,000 in matching monies from local businesses (at this time $21,000 has been raised).
4 - How long will the process take?
The Natick 360 Planning process will cover a 16 month time-frame. The final plan document, including specific actions and estimated budgets will be submitted for approval at Fall 2007 Town Meeting. The Natick 360 Strategic Plan will cover a five year period. The sponsoring boards may call for a committee to be formed to review progress against the Strategic Plan halfway through the 5-year planning period.
5 - How will this long range strategic process dovetail with on-going planning among individual boards and town administration?
Individual Boards, Committees, and special Study Groups are already involved in studying and recommending projects such as a Senior/Community Center, a Natick Housing Plan, and many others. In addition, the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, and Finance Committee have organized a special Fiscal Task Force to make recommendations about putting together a FY08 budget. These efforts are perfectly complementary with the Long Range Strategic Planning effort. The same committees that are sponsoring the Long Range Strategic Planning effort are also involved with these other efforts. Since the sponsoring boards will control the scope of the long-range planning effort, there is no conflict between these efforts.
6 - Who can be involved with the process?
Anyone who wants to be involved can be involved in this process. One of the early steps in the process is to conduct “key informant interviews” with subject area experts throughout Natick and across the region. From Natick town departments, to service organizations, community groups, regional transportation groups, and businesses, these groups will be used to identify Key Challenges that face Natick now and in the future. Over the course of the planning process there will be opportunities for wide community involvement through community workshops, neighborhood meetings, volunteer committees, and public opinion polling.
7 - Is this a one-time or on-going process?
The Natick 360 Plan will include specific action items and priorities covering a five-year time period. Strategic planning is not a static process and should be repeated again after 5 years. We expect the sponsoring boards to reconvene a long-range planning effort at approximately 5-year intervals. As mentioned earlier, we also expect an intermediate review to be conducted at the request of the sponsoring boards approximately halfway into the 5-year planning period.
8 - What is the role of the Strategic Planning Oversight Committee?
The strategic planning process is being run on behalf of 5 sponsoring boards: Board of Selectmen,School Committee, Planning Board, Finance Committee, and Conservation Commission. The Strategic Planning Oversight Committee will run the strategic planning process on their behalf. The Strategic Planning Oversight Committee has no authority to make decisions - the boards must approve each phase of the planning process. The Strategic Planning Oversight Committee is charged with managing the process, recommending and managing consultants, and facilitating between sponsoring boards. The process has been reviewed by Town Council and found to be consistent with Natick’s Charter and By-laws.
9 - What issues will be considered as part of the process?
The process will gather information from a very wide range of constituents. The information will be organized and analyzed by consultants and presented to the 5 sponsoring boards. The 5 sponsoring boards will then have an opportunity to work collaboratively in a consensus-building process, making use of outside experts as needed, to decide what strategic options are placed in front of the community. The community will have a chance to express their preferences through community meetings - backed up by a scientific survey. The final recommendations will be determined, based on this input, by the 5 sponsoring boards and then presented to Town Meeting for approval. |
