Community Members of BF/OCV
This project focuses on Potash Brook in South Burlington, Vermont. Potash Brook is a 2,145 ha watershed that drains directly into Lake Champlain. Within Potash watershed we have chosen Butler Farm / Oak Creek subdivision to establish a "demonstration project" focused on a particular storm water management issues that are relevant both locally and regionally. There is no particular reason that this community was chosen, except that it is "typical". This subdivision of over 200 homes on about 65 hectares is representative of so-called "cookie cutter" neighborhoods that typify urban sprawl. Tributary 7 of Potash Brook arises in agricultural land above the BF/OC subdivision, flows through the middle of the development, and then emerges onto conservation land managed by the City of South Burlington. The stream within the development has been highly degraded and is deeply incised.
Participation is a crucial component of the project. We are designing our project based on processes that build on shared learning developed through participatory processes. A common theme in the stakeholder meetings that we stage is that they stimulate people to synthesize disparate information and visualize outcomes from inherently complex and interacting processes.
One of the cornerstones of our participatory approach is to involve community stakeholders in the development and evaluation of the project through "town or neighborhood meetings" that rely on whole-watershed visualization tools and multi-criteria decision aids to promote shared learning among the project participants.
We have established a good connection with a group of concerned neighbors in the BF/OC neighborhoods. While there is no formal Homeowners’ Association (HOA) in either neighborhood, this informal connection should adequately meet the needs of the project. Our efforts to establish neighborhood connections within the framework of the RAN project have been viewed favorably, since this may lead in the future to some more structured networks and possibly an HOA.
We have had several meetings with the neighborhood group and have held two "field days" for the entire neighborhood and other interested stakeholders. During the first meeting of the neighborhood group we described our project and got initial input about the problems and concerns of the residents. We met a second time to discuss the draft of the storm water survey that was developed. The group was very helpful in framing some of the questions in a way that the residents could better understand and give clearer responses.
A third meeting in April 2004 consisted of a major project presentation to the stakeholders at the South Burlington City Hall. At that time, results from the survey were preliminary and these results were reported to the stakeholders and discussed. This meeting was our first extensive outreach to the whole community and provided the basis for a wider working group, which has been our liaison during later stages of the project.
In September 2004 and October 2006 we held a Field Days for the community.