Wayne planning committee prioritizes lake, housing and outreach as it readies a community survey

The Town of Wayne comprehensive‑plan committee agreed at its meeting to center the coming outreach and planning effort on four priorities—lake health, the school, internet access and housing—and to use a short community survey to shape public input ahead of the June 10 town meeting.

Members said those four topics map to the statutory “bins” the plan must address: housing and economic development; protecting public health, safety and welfare; and environment and critical resources. A committee member noted the state planning requirements (quoted in the meeting as “section 432.6 six of the throat management program elements”) and urged that community input and a needs assessment be organized around those areas.

Shannon, who prepared the committee’s roadmap and a self‑assessment checklist, told members she used automated tools to translate the chapter‑208 material into a year‑long timeline and then distilled key tasks and checkpoints for committee use. She described the product as a practical roadmap the committee can use to highlight tasks that need to be done.

Lloyd argued the committee should take a regional rather than strictly local approach to housing and infrastructure, saying, “I think the town government is plain obsolete,” and urging that water and lake issues be integrated across housing, transportation and recreation planning. Other members pushed back against dwelling on an aspirational vision alone and urged practical, fundable steps the town can implement.

The committee also discussed an ongoing regional effort to address the lake. Members said the Andrew Scoggins (transcript spelling: Andrew Scogginan) steering committee has contracted with an environmental consultant, and that additional testing and planning funded through regional partners will inform the committee’s recommendations. The group emphasized that the committee’s role is to identify priorities and guide outreach, not to replace existing technical programs.

To gather public input, members agreed to draft a nine‑to‑10 question closed‑ended survey with an optional comment field, then pilot it and distribute it online and in paper form. Stan Davis and other volunteers offered to help draft and host the survey; attendees discussed using SurveyMonkey or similar tools and recommended keeping the survey short and easy to complete.

Next steps included finalizing the survey questions, holding a short presentation at the June 10 town meeting to advertise upcoming outreach, and scheduling two committee meetings in May to prepare materials and refine outreach plans.