Eastport, Maine February 15, 2016 Phase 2: Community Conversation A Project of Prepared by Jane Lafleur, Friends of Midcoast Maine Making Headway in Your Community
Making Headway in Your Town, a program of GrowSmart Maine and the Maine Downtown Center, began in Eastport Maine with a Movie Night on January 25, 2016. The project partners showed the film Reviving the Freedom Mill, followed by discussion of what matters in Eastport. Many community assets were identified at the Movie Night event: Architectural integrity 15 Sea Street An amazing location & waterfront People here in winter who want to be here A City Council that focuses on youth and improving quality of life A population that doubles or triples in summer A Summer Family Movie Night that is a well attended event in park 300 people have left in 10 years A wonderful downtown and much more beyond downtown Empty space in Industrial Park A ferry to Lubec in summer Patience! The scale in Eastport is not the size of a project, but the time of a projecthow long it will take. Making Headway in Your Community Page 1
Step 1: MHYC partners and community members developed a Community Network Analysis, over the phone, to determine the networks and organizations in town and the methods to connect with them to advertise the Community Conversation event fully. Step 2: was Movie Night and an introduction to the MHYC process. This event attracted 27 people on January 25, 2016. Step 3: A Community Conversation was held Monday, February 15 at the Port Authority Building in downtown Eastport. The purpose of this evening event was to brainstorm a project that would have a significant impact on the community, with $1000 funding from The Making Headway in Your Community project, matched by $1000 in cash and/or in-kind donation to support the project. Participants reviewed the set of initiatives (or big picture items) that were identified on movie night and added several additional ones. They then identified projects that could be funded with the $1000 grant and worked through a selection process to narrow the projects and to finally recommend a project to fund with the $1000 grant funds and the $1000 community match. The project must be conducted and carried out within 4-6 months. Making Headway in Your Community Page 2
Publicity This flyer was distributed widely to individuals and organizations around Eastport. Facebook event pages were also developed, attracting followers and guests. News releases in the Bangor newspaper and other local and regional papers also spread word of the up-coming Community Conversation. Making Headway in Your Community Page 3
The Community Conversation On Monday, February 15, 2016, Lorain Francis of the Maine Downtown Center welcomed everyone to the meeting and described the history and purpose of the project including discussing the MHYC flow chart and process. Attendees Approximately 40 people attended this 2 hour session from 5 p.m.- 7 p.m. Attendees represented the City of Eastport including town staff, general citizens, Chamber of Commerce representatives, business owners, and at least 6 young people under age 12. Thirty-four people voted consistently. Over half of the attendees had NOT attended the movie night event. Using electronic keypad polling, participants self-identified as to their level of involvement in the community. Making Headway in Your Community Page 4
Jane Lafleur, Director of Friends of Midcoast Maine, facilitated this meeting. She began with information about the process for the evening, which started with using keypad polling on some sample questions. She reviewed the feedback received from the community after the movie night. This included: What is Eastport passionate about? Need things to entice families to come to Eastport and stay- Improve the quality of life - Engage young families and kids - Municipal engagement - Bring attention to the downtown, bring downtown to life, make it attractive to everyone - Don t limit ourselves to the geographic boundaries of Eastport- think beyond - Eastport needs young families and couples in their 30 s and 40 s; Not enough to do in the winter; Expand region of impact, bring in neighbors. Possible Major Initiatives Suggested at Movie Night Skating: Eastport used to have a skating pond by the IGA; No place for kids to change skates or a warming hut- 6 x 12 ; It would draw kids to the rink; Could have solar lighting. Youth Center: Current youth center is not used by youth - it is used by VFW, American Legion, Bingo group; Kids want a youth center, perhaps share the one that exists; get them involved in creating and running it - they need ownership; Gets lots of ages together, establish mentorships. Central kiosk or bulletin board for community posters, etc. near the fisherman s statue - a central place where people go for information it s is also where cruise ships debark Green industry created with Harbor recycling. Summer Taxi - The Woody Tour- take groups of people to St. Stephens, transportation and group activity - make use of existing resources (transportation - ferry, taxi). Internet: Improve connectivity to internet. What else? Other initiatives? The participants also suggested several new ideas to add to the list of major initiatives. These were: Transform Ball field into a family play area, Transform Boat School into an education place for families and Ball field, skating, youth center, skate board park. Making Headway in Your Community Page 5
Participants were asked to consider the Impact and Feasibility of each project. Making Headway in Your Community Page 6
The four core principles of Making Headway in Your Community were noted including Smart Design, Community Connections, Local Economy and Healthy Communities. Participants were asked, What does each initiative bring to the community? How does it support the 4 core principles of the Making Headway in Your Community project? The entire group was asked to vote on which Initiative would have the highest impact and feasibility on the community. Additional items were added prior to voting including G. Transform Ball field into a family play area, H. Transform Boat School into an education place for families and I. Ball field, skating, youth center, skateboard park. J. was left blank. The final top Initiatives from the key pad vote were G. Transform Ball field into a family play area. A. Skating area warming hut C. Central Kiosk or bulletin board. Participants then broke into four small groups, randomly assigned, to discuss the top three initiatives and prepare a pitch for at least 2 projects within each initiative that could be funded with the $1000 grant from the Making Headway Initiative. Participants were asked to address: What are possible small projects that would be quick, easy and inexpensive to complete and that will increase support for the Ball Field Area, The Central Kiosk and the Skating Warming Hut Initiatives? Consider: Will it increase local support? What group will take the lead? What groups will help? What will it cost and where is the 1:1 match coming from? Making Headway in Your Community Page 7
Results of this discussion, within the context of the Making Headway in Your Community worksheet were: What s Important in the Ball field area initiative? Smart Design: a well-developed plan could enhance the community design and function Local Economy: a place for families will enhance the local economy Community Connections: a gathering spot enhances community connections Healthy Communities: outdoor recreation increases physical health What s important in the Central Kiosk project Initiative? Smart Design: information for residents and visitors enhances way-finding and the visitor s experience and Local Economy: Visitors and residents will be better informed about community activities, goods and services. Making Headway in Your Community Page 8
Healthy Communities: information builds stronger communities and awareness of community assets Community Connections: Enhanced information builds stronger community connections What s important in the Skating area/warming Hut Initiative? Smart Design: a skating area hut would be an asset to the skating experience and enhance the function of the place Local Economy: A hut improves the function of the skating area and therefore enhances the usability of the site Healthy Communities: Outdoor recreation will be enhanced and more useable with a changing area for skating Community Connections: The enhanced skating experience gives residents renewed opportunities for outdoor recreation and community connections. Consolidated list of brainstormed ideas The notes from each small group are transcribed here: Central Kiosk: directional signs pointing to the Port Authority Building which IS an information booth itself, just need better directional signage The Port Authority IS the kiosk! post big flyers, special occasions, up-coming events, what s going on in Eastport ; a solid hut garden shed style, 3 sided hut AED emergency device to get your heart jumped started a sign that says Tourist info and Eastport Chamber of Commerce a magnetic tower and laminator an LED sign on side of TIMA plexi-glass cabinets for each community group and attach this to The Little Free Library Skating Area/warming hut: Build a hut Add a bench and fire pit add solar lights locally built, high feasibility, small concession stand to rent skates, hot chocolate need volunteers need clay night lighting energy fire pit supervision a Penguin mascot statue/sculpture Organization of groups Making Headway in Your Community Page 9
Ball field into family play area: feedback and planning process, community consultation, map space, boundaries, functional zones, interactions A safe place for kids A variety of activities A jungle gym A large chess board and checkers (human pieces in costume perhaps!) a tree house toddler equipment $800 installed benches $75 Production $25 Marge the warming hut into the ball field and play area project Add climbing wall made with recycled tires to a tree house, built locally Add picnic tables in field near tree house Use funding for wood, nails, bolts Climb ropes from school connected to something high for climbing A frog pond and a graffiti wall 1 field could have a football and soccer field 1 court could be basketball hoops, fix tennis courts, add swimming pool Treehouse, picnic tables and climbing wall Climbing wall to the tree house with a slide down to open fields Picnic tables built locally It s a central location within downtown walking distance Need volunteers Climbing walls, swimming pool, night lighting, something for each member of the family Low impact exercise stations for all ages. Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Making Headway in Your Community Page 10
Group 4 Participants voted again for their top project(s) within each initiative. Making Headway in Your Community Page 11
As a result of these votes, 5 projects moved on to the final rounds. These were: Treehouse Toddler play space and planning process Directional sign to Port Authority 6 ft by 12 ft warming hut with bench at skating pond Develop a masterplan for the recreation area Final Project Selection The top project in each initiative was then entered in to a final vote for the project that should receive the grant funding. Finally, as a result of the voting on each of the projects within the major initiatives, the top projects were then voted on. The final result ended in a tie between the Toddler Play Space and Planning for the Future and Developing a masterplan for the ball field area of the City. Since these two projects are essentially in the same area of focus and of the City, they were merged into one. Making Headway in Your Community Page 12
Lorain Francis then reviewed the final details about dispersal of grant funds, the leadership team required, the time line for the project and other logistical details. This includes Lindy Weston as project leader. Francis also discussed the Capacity Building portion of the MHYC process and the need for the community to identify some educational opportunities for members of the community to attend (i.e. Maine Downtown Center Conference, SmartGrowth forums or any other opportunity). A final community celebration will be planned in collaboration with community members for June 2016. Finally, participants were asked their reaction to the Community Conversation and whether their time was well spent. Twenty-three noted yes, 4 noted no and 1 was undecided. Project Partners Making Headway in Your Community Page 13
For more information, please contact: Nancy E. Smith Executive Director GrowSmart Maine 415 Congress Street, Suite 204 Portland, ME 04101 207-699-4330, ext 1 http://www.growsmartmaine.org Lorain K. Francis, Senior Program Director Maine Downtown Center Maine Development Foundation 295 Water St., Ste. 5 Augusta, ME 04330 Direct: 207-626-3117 http://www.mdf.org This report has been prepared by Jane Lafleur, Executive Director, Friends of Midcoast Maine and the Community Institute. Friends of Midcoast Maine, 5 Free Street, Camden, Maine 04843 (207) 207-236-1077 www.friendsmidcoast.org www.communityinstitute.org Making Headway in Your Community Page 14