Board hears SRF Consulting’s plan for Village Center engagement focused on three village parcels

SRF Consulting project manager Mitch Braus presented a community engagement plan for the Village Center District that emphasizes broad outreach and multiple engagement methods: an online and paper community survey, an interactive mapping tool, one community open house, two pop-up events, two focus groups and a final report summarizing results and recommended next steps.

Braus said the program will emphasize equity and multiple promotion channels, "we want to hear from as many members of the Germantown community as possible," and noted special focus on three village-owned properties (Flower Source, Ascension, Grossneck). Board members pressed on sample size, scheduling and whether the timeline should be extended to include July 4 pop-up opportunities; Braus said the schedule can be adjusted and that the scope in the RFP guided the timeline but added events are feasible as add-ons.

Trustees discussed how the engagement results would be used. Assistant staff and Trustee Chad Miller suggested the results could inform RFP parameters for developers on village parcels. Braus said the consultant will summarize all input and "provide some recommendations on next steps" but is not tasked with producing a master plan in this contract; a subsequent planning or master plan phase would be required to convert engagement findings into specific development regulations or contractual RFP terms.

The board provided feedback and requested staff and SRF to consider additional pop-up dates and to ensure questions include West Main Street and other areas trustees said are relevant to the Village Center conversation.