So there are people that can um I don't know that people that was I would bad I would call it my card so I'm not sure what I'm saying.

I'll tie it on again.

Yeah, we have to get a you're in the middle of the yeah.

Yeah, I think water is no.

Oh, that's all I map.

Okay, so I'm gonna say that.

Oh no, I don't think that's all that you can see.

Yeah, yeah.

I don't know.

Yeah, I don't know.

Do we have to sign goes?

I think we have not so we'll go ahead and uh get um course.

So we seem to have uh we have most of our committee here, I think.

We we knew that group A was the biggest, so there's nine people in group A.

Um, but we're sorted today by the um the topical areas that people voted for, and we were able to give most people their first choice, some people got their second choice.

So we've got um group A is uh working on community frameworks, so that's land use, economic development, and um housing.

Group B is our uh um vibrant and healthy communities, which is transportation and uh city services and facilities.

Group C is preserving our heritage, so that's um open space recreation and historic and cultural resources, and Kylie here is hoping that someone will come, if not, she'll join a different group.

But so that's our sustainable systems and services, which is uh energy, natural resources, and natural hazards and climate change.

So um before we start to dive into the work with our breakout groups today, um I'll just say that we've had a really great week here.

Kevin is here from Ninigrit Partners, he's the economist on the team, and uh Kylie and I have been here as part of Interface Studio.

Um and so we met um Monday evening with uh City Council and Planning Board, then we had uh two focus groups each day, um, which we'll say a little bit more about.

Uh we had a meeting with uh representatives from the North End neighborhood uh neighbors as well as from the health equity zone.

Kylie and I were able to attend at uh Heather's invitation, the situation table.

Um so we got a feel for how uh Middletown and Newport, um, both uh city um staff as well as um service providers are coordinating, and that was really exciting and inspiring to see.

And then here we are at our last meeting of this trip, which is our fourth meeting of the advisory committee.

So um I wanted to spend a little bit of time just looking at the vision statement, which we've been workshopping with you all, and then the plan for the day is to have our little breakouts um on your table.

There's a plot of the the goals for each of the topic areas, and then everybody will get a handout with the proposed strategies that we've been workshopping this visit, and so we can spend we'll spend about 30 minutes on each of the three topics that are within your um your purview, and then we'll have about 20 minutes at the end to share out across our our different groups.

So um before we get too far into it, I'll just say uh last time we were all together, we workshop the vision.

I think the feedback that we got from you all was that it was too long and too wordy.

Um it could use a preamble that helps to ground the vision in the issues of today.

Um we knew that uh really like you all helped us say like how do we rewrite this more from the resident's perspective and focus on the resident experience and um how do we use language that like people can relate to.

So um I will read this out loud and then I will uh let you know that the vision is plotted here on the first table, and so if anybody wants to come mark it up uh and give us some additional feedback, we're we're happy to receive that.

But um so for the preamble, which is really it's not the vision, it comes before the vision, but it's meant to say like and to respond to what we heard from you all that it's helpful to contextualize like where are we today?

Um this is what we came up with in response to that conversation.

So it says though Newport is a destination that draws visitors from around the world for us, meaning you all, uh Newport is home, a quaint and close-knit island community.

In this moment, as we envision the next 20 years in Newport's story, we face real challenges that threaten life as we know it.

Housing has become unaffordable for many.

Year-round living wage jobs are hard to find.

Congested streets make daily errands a drag.

Visitors now stay where our neighbors once lived, and land is limited, but development pressure is building.

Meanwhile, extreme weather has become the norm, and aging infrastructure approaches a breaking point.

So looking to the future, we see that new porters must work together today to guide needed change, deepen bonds between neighbors, and protect this beloved place that we've so proudly call home.

So that's what we're calling the preamble.

Um and the vision statement, the the latest draft uh reads as such.

Go so going forward, Newport will be a city of extraordinary coastal beauty and rich cultural heritage, where an exceptional quality of life for residents is enriched by its role as a vibrant year-round destination.

We will remain committed to protecting Newport's natural resources and authentic harbor identity while embracing innovative growth that honors our historic charm.

As a forward-thinking leader in resilience and sustainability and connectivity, we will ensure that Newport is a community where people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities can live, learn, work, thrive, and enjoy the waters that surround our island home.

So the last thing I will note, which I've if you've been present at the focus groups earlier this week, um we've been drawing attention to the notion um that we have these three through lines or three threads, uh people, salt water, and resilience.

And the idea is that um each of these concepts uh relates to all 11 topics in the um comprehensive plan, and it'll be part of our uh work to figure out how does um you know what does it mean for um people to relate to land use or for people to relate to economic development and the same thing for the waters that surround uh this beautiful place and the same thing for resilience that we need to think of not just about resilience in terms of natural hazards and climate change, but really a resilient housing system, a resilient um economy, and so forth.

So I'll just pause for a moment to see if there's any responses either to the preamble or the way the vision has evolved um in in response to the the feedback from this community, this committee, excuse me.

Yes, Hank.

Thank Mr.

Um better putting that in for maybe happen more on it.

Uh-huh.

In 20 years, we have nothing.

It's very difficult to come in the kind of major projects.

Uh-huh.

And so I think I just would like to bring up the fact that we're on the project in how much for the development.

The pool together to go spend the work and we are welcome structure and so forth.