East Hampton's Community Visioning Identifies Important Community Resources

Town Manager Michael Maniscalco will host another Community Visioning Coalition meeting Thursday, the second in what he says will be a series of meetings among local residents and officials to decide the path of the town’s future.

The meeting, set for 6 p.m., in the East Hampton Middle School Library, will feature officials from the group Everyday Democracy from East Hartford, who will help guide the coalition on how to proceed. Everyday Democracy is a nonprofit agency “that help(s) create communities that work better for everyone because all voices are included in public problem solving.”

The initial meeting of the coalition was held about a week ago and drew about 20 people, a turnout Maniscalco said was “a good turnout, a good beginning … the very beginning of something that’s going to be much, much bigger.”

It drew residents and officials from various agencies in town, including the group Friends of Lake Pocotopaug, the Old Home Day Committee, the Commission on Aging, the Town Council, the Economic Development Commission, the Board of Finance and Epoch Arts, a local theater group.

Mansicalco said he hopes the visioning process will help identify specific ideas that can then be put into action.

“One of my biggest pet peeves is to see a plan sitting on a shelf and gathering dust, holding up other plans.”

He said he wants those taking part in the meetings to discuss their ideas with family and friends to help generate excitement about the coalition’s work.

“It’s something we need to get everyone to participate in. We’re going to take this on and we’re going to take on the community itself.”

Maniscalco asked the audience members to offer their ideas on some of the areas of town they believe are either important or could be improved upon.

Some of the things people said they are concerned about or think the town should focus on included:

• Protecting against excessive building
• Ensuring smart development along Route 66
• Bringing in the voice of youth and getting more youths involved in town planning
• Investing in the village center
• Diversifying the tax base
• Protecting the more than 500-acre Lake Pocotopaug
• Impacts of the proposed $52 million high school renovation plan