Housing Committee Meeting 3/20/19

At our meeting on 3/20, we went over the survey to be given out at Town Meeting. Scroll down to the bottom of this page to see a draft. I'll bring this to town meeting and make an announcement for people to fill it out.

Our next meeting is Wednesday, May 1. I know, it's right after Town Meeting and Tuesday's Table, but things are getting busy and there's a lot to work around!

The community housing potluck has been set for Thursday, May 23. This will be our last big push for input from the year-round community, and then we'll begin discussing how to bring in the seasonal folks. Allen will be in surgery/recovery for most of May and June, so he won't be able to join us. But please wish him well and send thanks for the good work he has put into this committee and the parsonage project so far!

We had a discussion about how to stick to our purpose, and a few goals came out of our discussion:

• Don't let the group get too small–keep expanding and reaching out to bring more people in.
• Step up our outreach by publicizing meetings at the store, town hall, and calling individual people. This is mostly my responsibility but other committee members can help by encouraging your friends/neighbors to attend the housing meetings.
• Keep the island contractors involved in the conversation. Start a group chat or FB page where contractors can communicate.
• How can we gather an inventory of the skills people have to offer the community? Ask people to list their name and any skills that they would be able to share. Maybe in a public place like the store or town hall.

More notes from Purpose to Practice discussion:

Purpose:

• Shelter
• Mental & physical well-being
• Future
• Sustainability
• We've seen people leave the island due to a lack of housing

Principles:

• Listen to community ideas/public relations
• Getting people involved
• Don't let our committee get small–keep reaching out to the people that need housing
• Permits/grants/legal
• Use island expertise first and foremost
• Seek out consensus from the year-round community

Participants

• Contractors involved
• Include everyone–many aspects of the island
• Get all view points
• Reaching out/getting info out/the word out
• Social services in Stonington
• Legislators (Genevieve MacDonald, Deane R)

Structure

• Committee
• ICDC

Practices

• Expand housing options beyond just families
• Sustainability
• Assess needs, review potential options, choose a solution, figure out how to do it