June was a busy month for Reimagine Chatham. The consultant team focused on data gathering and the steering committee launched two initiatives to try to broaden awareness and outreach across the community.
During the week of June 17, Hill Studio held two days of focus group sessions and conducted stakeholder interviews. Additionally, they monitored results from the recent on-line survey. All this data will be evaluated to help form a picture of how citizens see their town and help define issues important to our future. The focus groups were attended by over forty people representing specific interests. The groups were divided into four categories and discussions were held addressing Community Amenities, Outdoor Recreation, Housing, and Small Businesses. Stakeholder interviews involved one-on-one discussions with our consultant by people whose work impacts the community on a routine basis. These are individuals like the Mayor, Town manager, Business leaders, business development organizations, etc. A draft summary evaluation of all this community input is expected in early July.
Outreach and awareness continued during the month with two efforts intended to reach across the study area. Informational flyers were included in the Town of Chatham water bills, a distribution reaching over 900 customers. Further, a flyer for mass mailing was developed and is intended to reach anyone in the area with a mailing address. Each of these actions is intended to inform and solicit involvement, including encouraging local citizens to complete the online survey.
By mid-June, nearly 400 survey responses had been received. This level of responses is reportedly well above the number of replies needed to be statistically significant. The survey will remain available until July 23 and Reimagine Chatham encourages anyone who has not taken it to please do so. After it closes, the data will be evaluated, and a “visioning session” will be scheduled for the steering committee to hear an initial assessment of all the input gathered from the various sources. The public input data will be combined with economic and business evaluations to begin forming a basis for the draft study recommendations.
As the growth and renewal strategic plan development reaches the mid-point of the schedule, thought is being given to how best to organize to implement the recommendations. There will be more on this in subsequent updates.