Calendar of Upcoming Civic Engagement Opportunities
Commentary on the above Civic Engagement opportunities:
To clearly see and fully understand the value and critical importance of public engagement in matters that may significantly affect the future of our city, one need only to have attended one of the Country Club Road Site Winter Sessions and contrast that well-designed and implemented effort with the apparent lack of such early and meaningful public engagement in VCFA’s decision-making process, which has resulted in plans to relocate the college’s Montpelier-based educational programs to Colorado College and to sell off most of VCFA’s buildings and property.
While it is certainly the case that the administration and the board of VCFA are responsible for insuring that the college can survive financially and deliver on its mission, it is also true that the VCFA campus is of great historical and present-day value to the city, as well as being a sizable property in the center of the College Hill neighborhood, whose residents are certain to be impacted by such an enormous change. It would seem, therefore, that City officials and residents, especially those in the extended College Hill area, should have been brought into the conversation about the future of the campus much earlier, more often, and in a greater spirit of collaboration than appears to have been the case.
Addressing questions like the following might provide direction for an improved process:
What has been the extent, timing, and manner in which the public has been engaged in VCFA’s decision-making?
- At what point did the City become aware that VCFA was contemplating such a drastic change and did city leaders then make an effort to help the college figure out a financially responsible way to remain in Montpelier and keep the campus intact?
- And, perhaps most importantly, going forward, how can VCFA and the City work together with an engaged public to develop other, possibly new, ways that this historic property may continue to be a valuable resource for the city and a good neighbor to the residents of College Hill?
Some might argue that decision-making by a private fiduciary like VCFA must be carried out differently than that done by a public entity like Montpelier with its city-owned Country Club Road Site. However true this might be, it does not mean that an important Montpelier institution like VCFA should make decisions about the disposition of such a large and hallowed property without robust civic engagement. In fact, it should be noted that White+Burke are the planning consultants to both projects, each of which is highly significant to the future of Montpelier.
In an upcoming issue of PEN, we will provide a “deeper dive” into the VCFA Campus Master Plan/PUD application and into the byzantine and highly restrictive manner in which the Planning and Community Development Department directs the DRB to hold its hearings on such matters.
In the meantime, we strongly recommend that, if you have not already attended either of the two previous Country Club Road Site Winter Sessions or one of the two prior DRB public hearings on the VCFA Campus Master Plan/PUD (the 12/2/21 Sketch Plan Review or the 1/3/23 Final Review Hearing) that you do attend (via Zoom) one or both of the upcoming meetings listed above.
Also, please make your voice heard on the future of the Country Club Road Site by joining the many other Montpelier residents who have already completed the Winter 2023 Country Club Road Site Survey.
ORCA Media Video: Montpelier Community Forum - 203 Country Club Road Project (Elks Club) 1/28/2023
Next Issue of PEN: Elections of Mayor and City Council Members
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