Meeting Notes

The CAC has grown to 13 members with the addition of one new youth member, Ethan Martin. Ten of the thirteen committee members and two interested community members were present at the meeting held at the Cowles City Council Chambers. The project consultants teleconferenced into the meeting from Anchorage. The meeting was facilitated by Chris Beck of Agnew::Beck Consulting.

Attendance:

× Committee Members

× Interested Community Members

Francie Roberts

Sharon Minsch

Dennis Novak

× Staff

Beth McKibben, City of Homer Planning Department

Chris Beck, Tanya Iden, Agnew::Beck Consulting

Tamas Deak, KPB

Issues and Goals Report:

A large part of the meeting (approx. 1 hour) was spent reviewing the Issues & Goals Report. The CAC received the report via e-mail on Friday, March 16. Broad suggestions and comments for the introductory profile section as well as each issue outlined in the report were shared. Some of the key additions and corrections made include:

Clarify that “retirees” constitute a very diverse group – including seasonal and year round residents, and people at all income levels
Add a section to address issue of creating walkable, concentrated commercial and mixed use districts outside of the town center area
Encourage the use of incentives rather than regulations throughout the Report. For instance, rather than suggesting that a certain percentage of affordable housing be required with new development, provide incentives for developers to include affordable housing with new projects.
Link global warming to the discussion of Homer’s environment. Incorporate this issue throughout the Report and look to the efforts of the City of Homer Global Warming Task Force.

The Report will be updated to reflect the suggestions made.

First Public Workshop:

Tanya gave an overview of Publicity for the workshop as well as discussed the format of the workshop and the specific stations that will be set-up. The CAC were asked to staff a station at the workshop. CAC members will e-mail Tanya their top three station choices. The following suggestions from CAC members will be incorporated into the Workshop:

Name Tags for CAC, Consultants, and City Staff
In addition to comment forms, provide index cards at each station for additional comments regarding the specific station.
Instead of a potluck have local agencies conduct a bake sale in conjunction w/ the workshop.
Consider taking out a Thank You AD in the newspapers after the workshop.

Coffee Table – KBBI’s local talk radio hour will do a feature about the Homer Comprehensive Plan on the day of the community workshop. The group determined that Allegra and Ethan will be the CAC members who participate with Beth from the City Planning Dept. and Chris from Agnew::Beck in the Coffee Table discussion. CAC Chair, Val McLay may be able to stop by if he doesn’t have jury duty.

Wrap-up:

The next CAC meeting will be April 26^th following the community workshop. Beth will determine if the Cowles City Council Chamber is available.

Tasks:

CAC e-mail Tanya any edits to the Issues and Goals report by 3/30/07
CAC e-mail Tanya their top three station choices by 3/30/07
Beth McKibben to determine whether the Cowles City Council chamber is available midday on April 26 for the next CAC meeting.
Beth McKibben to solicit groups for a bake sale in conjunction with workshop
Agnew::Beck to prepare all publicity for upcoming event and work with the City Planning Dept. to ensure it is distributed, etc.
Agnew::Beck will revise the Flyer (eliminate community potluck) and resend it to the CAC and Homer Planning Department.
Agnew::Beck to complete Issues and Goals Report by approx April 6^th for an April 13^th distribution to the community
Agnew::Beck to share workshop station posters, information, and a plan for the structured small group discussions with CAC in advance of the community workshop.