08-14-2017 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Part 3: Project Approach Verve Consulting's approach to the Navarre Area Plan is to engage citizens - the community's greatest asset - to determine the types of activities and physical amenities needed to invigorate and sustain Navarre, a "town center' for the city of Orono. Verve Consulting guides communities to activate the social life of their public spaces with this understanding: To create a great place, start with people. The one-year planning process will follow placemaking principles to articulate and leverage citizen and stakeholder desires for what they wish to see in the newly re -imagined Navarre. The Verve approach is a bottom-up, not top-down, process that builds community as surely as it builds lovely spaces in which to be. Utilizing both qualitative methods and a process guided by "Art of Hosting" or Participatory Leadership strategies, outreach and engagement conducted by Verve Consulting will initiate active stakeholder participation; invite and expand the citizen vision for Navarre; observe how people currently use the spaces; articulate shared values; highlight assets and resources; daylight barriers; identify physical locations for large and intimate gatherings (for both annual, occasional, and daily use); engage "tactical urbanism' and "Lighter, Cheaper, Quicker" prototypes for physical and social improvements to public spaces; focus on inclusion and equity; consider costs; and offer recommendations as a guiding document for the Navarre Area Plan. Those recommendations will be submitted to the Orono City Council as a component of the Comprehensive Plan on which the Council will vote in September 2018. Building a town center that supports community as well as commerce takes time. Physical amenities and improvements are often necessary to create the structure of the place, but people and great programming are necessary to enliven the space. The idea "if you build it, they will come" only holds water if citizens own the planning process, contribute in meaningful and on-going ways to the evolution of the public spaces, and then routinely participate in programming that attracts even more people and energy. Below, please find an outline of the various methods and approaches, with proposed deliverables, that Verve Consulting will undertake to engage stakeholders and re -imagine Navarre. The final section contains Verve Consulting's estimate for services proposed and a "Not to Exceed" statement, as per RFP outline. Qualitative research Interviews - 20-25 identified residents, business owners, stakeholders (42 hours). Interviews recorded (iPhone) and synopsized with quotes, themes outlined. Submitted to city staff and presented in report form for public consumption. Quotes may be used for marketing purposes - will garner authorization from all interview subjects (check legal requirements for such authorization) C.