The first of a series of master plan events took place at Fuller Villages yesterday morning as Milton began the process of “planning its future and preserving its past”. The event was well attended, well run, and productive. Residents throughout town spent ~ 3 hours in reviewing, brainstorming, and discussing the goals and objectives that will eventually be distilled into a document that will guide Milton’s future development regarding commerce, open space, recreation, housing, transportation, and historic preservation.

The session began with an overview of the process from Daphne Politis of Community Circle, the consulting team retained to conduct the second phase of Milton’s Master Plan. She was joined by the two other members of her team, Angus Jennings and Jeffrey Maxtutis. The goal of yesterday’s session was to review and validate the goals and objectives that had been identified in the first phase of the plan. Politis summed up the point of the exercise succinctly when she said, “We work at making places better.”

After opening remarks that provided context and direction, participants cycled through a series of objectives and goals that had been posted around the room and contributed their on thoughts, opinions, and ideas via sticky notes. This was followed by a second review in which folks prioritized the issues.

Random observations and concerns we heard from attendees included but were not limited to: 1) there were no people of color in attendance 2) there were few people under the age of 45 3) in general the turnout was impressive. Present were Hurley and Conlon of Board of Selectmen and Innes, Whiteside, and Duffy of Planning Board 4) the process of validating and prioritizing issues was well done.

What the town wants versus what the town wants to pay for was part of the conversations that were happening. Other hard realities are also beginning to surface and the risk / reward aspect are beginning to reveal themselves. One example is school enrollments. The Milton Public Schools are very close to maximum capacity. The elementary schools may be there already. Housing developments can have a significant impact. A large spike in the school population will require either additional class space (from where?) or increased class sizes (Classes are currently capped at 22 with French immersion capped at 26).

These issues will continue to be worked through during a course of future roundtable forums held at venues throughout town. Residents unable to attend those forums will have the opportunity to make their voices heard through online channels. You can find complete information on the Master Plan on the Town web site here. There is a web site with up to date information and documents on phase 2 that can be found here. Additional photos of the event can be found here.

The documents and material that came out of phase one can be found here.