Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Update 11.29.11

Dear Yestermorrow Faculty, Staff, Students and Friends,

Over the past year, Yestermorrow has undertaken a comprehensive master planning and strategic planning process. To facilitate decision-making, the Board of Directors designated a “Core Team” of stakeholders to represent different aspects of the School, who worked directly with a consulting design team from Regenesis. On October 1st the Core Team presented the draft plan at our annual Faculty Meeting (see John Connell’s introduction on video), and on November 5th the team presented an updated plan
to the Board. We are now looking for feedback from the larger Yestermorrow community before our next meeting on December 15th.

This memo outlines the process and work to date which is detailed further in the Executive Summary and the Grounding and Process Report. There is still much to do, of course, but we have made impressive progress in the past four months. And yet this is not a finished study nor should the drawings be interpreted as a final site plan. Rather, this is a “principled gesture” or bubble diagram of where natural functions and educational activities should be accommodated and placed on the land, based on our Purpose and Principles.

The Yestermorrow Board has done the hard work of developing our core purpose so that it resonates with all our disparate members:
The Yestermorrow Design/Build School’s purpose is to learn together, through shared inquiry and hands-on experience, the ways of making human habitat,
In a way that expands our understanding of who we are and how to live in beneficial interrelationship with the earth and each other,
So that we all can thrive in a world with limited resources and unlimited potential.


Along with Regenesis, the Core Team has developed Design and Process Principles (see p.14-15 , Master Planning Grounding and Process Report) so that as we move forward with the actual design and building, we can continually ground ourselves in these Design Principles. This will allow us to make certain that each of the five stakeholders in the “Pentad” benefit (Grounding and Process Report page 13-14). This is how we embrace the largest, evolving vision without becoming misguided or inflexible as time passes.

Some may be surprised to learn that we are not presenting a final design for Board approval or modification. Rather, we offer a means of distilling Yestermorrow’s Purpose and Principles into the built form of its campus. By approving the “principled gesture” (bubble diagram) presented, and the process by which it was articulated, the Board has taken the most difficult first step in creating our school’s future in this valley. On November 5th the Board voted to authorize the Core Team to oversee the continued work on the Master Plan.

We have defined a series of Next Steps to be tackled by the Core Team over the winter, outlined in the Core Team meeting notes from 11.17.11. These include conducting a site survey, researching permitting, talking with experts in the fields of wastewater, surface water, and solar access, getting feedback on the draft plan, and obtaining funding to move these steps forward.

As always, the Yestermorrow community’s insights and suggestions are needed and welcomed. We invite you to review the following documents and submit your questions, feedback and thoughts to the Core Team by December 15th. Please send comments and feedback by email to kinny@madriver.com and she will compile them and disseminate to the larger group.

Sincerely,
Kinny Perot
Robin Morris
John Connell
Gillian Davis
Kate Stephenson
(2011 Core Team Members)

Documents for Review:
The Overview PDF includes:
- Regenesis' Master Planning Process- Executive Summary 10.15.11
- Appendix: "How to Start A Design Conversation at Yestermorrow" by John Connell
- An aerial photo of the YM campus site to provide context
- A copy of the "working site plan" version 10.19.11
- A "bubble diagram" detailing the different zones, access etc

You can also download the full Grounding and Process Report prepared by Regenesis which provides additional detail and notes from board meetings and workshops held throughout the spring and summer of 2011.

We have also created a blog where we are posting meeting notes, draft plans, and other documents:
http://ymmasterplanning.blogspot.com

Friday, November 18, 2011

Core Team Meeting Notes 11.17.11

Attending: Robin Morris, Kate Stephenson, Kinny Perot, John Connell, Kathy Meyer

The purpose of the meeting was to primarily focus on scheduling and executing the following initiatives.
  • Permitting - Waitsfield Design Review Board, Dept. of Transport and Agency of Natural Resources.
  • Site Survey.
  • Communication - transparency and open to feedback.
  • Expert Review - further research and design on topics of wastewater, surface water and solar access.
  • Funding
  • Design Process - (John Connell's "design amigos").
  1. DRB application. Goal is to have an application with the DRB in time for January 2012. Next Step. RM to meet with Waitsfield ZBA to review application. JC to complete SketchUp and PDF renderings of master plan. KS to present to DRB.
  2. Site Survey. Proceed with Peter Lazorchak's proposal. Next Step: RM to discuss survey and south boundary with PL, KM to document easement for spring access for PL. RM to introduce JC to PL.
  3. DOT curb cut application. Next Step. KP to research application process and report back to Core Team.
  4. Communication. Personal discussions with abutters by Dec 15th.
    • JC - Eugene and Claudia
    • KP - Peggyann Noel
    • JC - Sugarbush- Margo Wade and Win Smith
    • KS - Bundy- Mike Millstone
    • KP - Marbles
    • KM - Punchbowl- Duke Freeman
    • KS - Abutters to North (DC)
    • KP - Lisabeth Magoun
  5. Webinar - Next Step: JC and KS to set date for Webinar for faculty/YM community presentation of plan and Q&A in early December.
  6. Faculty Input- Next step: KS to write email to faculty (and greater YM constituency) requesting written input by Dec 15. Kinny Perot is key contact for input and will summarize for Core Team. (Who is getting back to Dave Sellers?). Also KS to update blog with recent minutes and notes.
  7. Expert Reviews
    • Surface Water. KP to contact Andres Torizzo.
    • Solar. JC to complete sun shading models.
    • Waste Water. KS to email Pete, Harold, Barton and Peter.
  8. Funding of planning effort. Current requirement $3,000 to complete survey.
  9. Design Amigos. JC to draft invite letter to "Design Field Team".