A project is best carried out with organized steps including; creating a task force and a technical staff, determining how to reach decisions, keeping a schedule, clear communication, and ultimately, to understand needs without predetermining the budget.

ORGANIZING TO CARRY OUT THE WORK THE TASK FORCE

The most effective means of involving the community in the project is forming a Task Force whose members represent the broadest segment of the community possible and who commit to the process from beginning to end. Technical staff and consultants from SHA will also serve on the Task Force. It must be clear to the community members and the technical staff that they serve on one Task Force with a clear, shared set of responsibilities. The group as a whole is charged with obtaining the best result for the community and the state and, as such, they need to have a single agenda. outcome. Beginning with the local community and asking their advice on whom to include is always a good approach. Task Force responsibilities should include: . Identifying transportation-related issues . Establishing the project limits . Assisting in data collection . Assisting in the organization, publication, and management of field walks, workshops, open houses, and public meetings . Reviewing materials intended for distribution to the community . Reviewing and revising all proposed plans, and . Endorsing the agreed upon final concepts for approval by the local elected officials To assure that the final concept fully responds to the community, the Task Force should not be dominated by a small interest group, such as residents of a single street or those interested in a single, narrow issue. A wide variety of representation is necessary and this includes critics and detractors as well as supporters .it is better to give critics a voice throughout the process than wait to be confronted with opposition at the end.

THE TECHNICAL STAFF

This group will facilitate and support the community's concept development effort. Some will serve on the Task Force but most will be in the background and will focus on specific issues and solutions. The staff has a variety of responsibilities: . Facilitating the planning process . Providing expertise and advice regarding potential solutions . Assembling technical documentation (e.g. traffic studies, surveys, etc.) . Providing historical and regional context to the local issues . Sharing experience from other planning efforts and other jurisdictions . Assuring compatibility with neighboring communities . Assuring compliance with applicable standards and regulations . Plan preparation and revision Project technical staff will be assigned by SHA after a thorough knowledge of the concerns of the community has been achieved and could involve a variety of disciplines e.g. historic preservation, archeology, environmental planning and permitting, project finance, construction, public relations, maintenance, traffic engineering, highway design, transit planning, etc. As new issues arise, and they will, appropriate technical staff should be added. It is very important that continuity and responsibility among the technical staff be maintained. Assignments should not be juggled from person to person, particularly in the case of the Project Manager. A single manager throughout the project is vital for "project memory" and credibility with the community. If a single manager is not possible, and the reality is that personnel sometimes change, a written understanding of project decisions and commitments must be available at the transition. The local community will remember the decisions because, while the Project Manager may be working on several projects, the community only has one and it is of great importance.

DECISION-MAKING

The Concept Plan will be prepared by the Task Force and without its concurrence on key design features, the project will not move forward to presentation to the community and its elected officials. Thus, the Task Force should determine how it will reach its decisions: by majority rule, by consensus, by majority and minority reports, or by some other technique. The important factor is to ensure that all members (and through them, other residents and interests) have the opportunity to be involved and to influence the final plan.

SCHEDULES/AGENDAS

The time offered by volunteers is valuable and must be treated as such. This means holding meetings on a regular advance schedule; providing materials before the meetings, if possible, and detailed minutes afterwards; and making certain that the meetings are product-oriented so that progress, or lack thereof, is apparent to all. Changes to the schedule should be a Task Force decision based on their judgement of the circumstances. The calendar should not cause the sacrifice of project elements or a complete understanding of project needs. Agendas are an excellent means of communicating and maintaining schedules. A sample "first meeting" agenda prepared for improvements to MD 19 in Church Hill follows on page 17.

COMMUNICATION

Communications among the Task Force outside of regularly scheduled meetings will and should occur. It is particularly important to discuss a way for the local group to communicate the ideas it gathers from other members of the community in a timely fashion. Contacts between the technical staff and the Task Force are best directed through the Project Manager or the Project Engineer and the Town Manager/Administrator or local staff contact. One point of contact is easier for the community and best for the project in that the responsible manager is aware of all requests, changes, or new needs, can direct them to the appropriate channels, and can inform all concerned of new directions. The simplest communication mechanism is a set of meeting minutes distributed to all necessary parties. A good format for minutes identifies the concern, gives the background or the proposed solution, and, most importantly, dentifies who is to follow-up. The point is accountability.

PROJECT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this phase is to understand needs without redetermining the budget. The scope should remain flexible throughout the concept development process. A too arrow scope may prevent identification and analysis of all he needs. Funding or the need to obtain difficult permits must not limit the examination. The look at the community must be comprehensive and include items that SHA des not typically fund. Other sources of financing may be available and directions and assistance to these funding sources should be provided. The Department of Housing and Community Development is a partner in many road improvement projects and should be involved as a strong and knowledgeable resource. At a minimum, the project goals and objectives should flow from directions laid out in previous comprehensive planning projects and contain an understanding of why the community and SHA are embarking on this effort. The following format can be used as an example of objectives and issues that could be examined in the course of Concept Plan development. The list should be provided to the Task Force members as a guide to what will be studied and what should be accomplished. It is very useful as a checklist when the final plans are being analyzed. Such a list answers the question . . . Have we done what we set out to do? Individual items will, of course, be different for each community and may expand or contract as the project proceeds or town priorities change. The Concept Plan checklist on page 18 is based on the issues and opportunities found in the community of North East.