8.4. SR 06-15-2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Community Engagement Houseal Lavigne has always had a strong commitment to community outreach and engagement, which serves as one of the cornerstones upon which our firm was created. When engagement tools did not exist, we created them. When tools were created by others, we became the experts in using them. For the past 15 years, Houseal Lavigne has led the way in identifying new ways to engage residents, new ways to visualize data, and new ways to communicate plans, designs, and concepts to the general public. Creating and embracing innovative methods to engage communities has become a hallmark of the firm. Anticipating high levels of participation from an active and engaged community, our proposed outreach and stakeholder coordination process includes both traditional (face-to-face) and web -based activities to obtain the broadest levels of participation. Our outreach strategies are award -winning, cost-effective, and designed to build consensus around the process. Our firm's proposed outreach strategy is described in detail within Section 3: Project Approach. Outreach in a Time of "Social Distancing" As a national leader in the development and utilization of online outreach platforms, Houseal Lavigne is capable and ready to engage Elk River residents and stakeholders by fully leveraging online and social media platforms. For years we have been providing virtual meetings, workshops, and tools aimed at allowing people to actively participate in the planning process from home. Go To Webinar, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Live, and map.social are just a few of the tools we have been using to allow staff, elected and appointed officials, and entire communities to see presentations, ask questions, provide input, and remain actively and effectively engaged, all in real time. If face-to-face engagement is not feasible at a particular point in the process, we will work with the City staff project team to reallocate time and resources and identify the best online engagement tools to supplement outreach efforts. We are confident the suite of online engagement tools we can provide will allow us to obtain the community input required to provide the City of Elk River with the Comprehensive Plan it needs. "Imagine Flint" the Master Plan for the City of Flint, MI, the extensive, multi -phased outreach and Plan branding efforts led to levels of com- munity participation that exceeded expectations at every turn. Over 5,000 individuals participat- ed in the planning process and the Plan was awarded the MI APA -Planning Excellence Award for Public Outreach in 2014. Another example of our award -winning engage- ment strategy integrated into the comprehen- sive planning process was "Envision Oak Park" with the Village of Oak Park, IL. The Plan directly evolved from extensive public involvement across an array of mediums and activities and was selected for the IL APA Community Out- reach Award in 2017 ,111 . During the Comprehensive Plan with the City of Aurora, CO, we engaged in conversations with 'the City's diverse and multi-lingual population to hear the community's under -represented per- spectives. Outreach was performed in a total of six differing languages and engaged over 3,000 residents. The Plan would go on to win the CO APA General Planning Award in 2019. The Comprehensive Plan developed for the Village of Downers Grove, Illinois was built on "an extensive community outreach campaign. The Plan, due to its successful engagement was awarded the IL APA Award for Best Plan. The Plan was also an early example of our innovative web -based engagement tool mop.sociol. mop.sociol is a web -based community issues mapping tool. Developed by Houseal Lavigne, this tool allows website visitors to iden- tify, map, and comment on geographic areas of concern and valued community assets in a manner that is exciting, interactive, and effec- tive. mop.sociol was awarded the Best Practice Award from the IL APA. Case Study: Innovative, Web -Based Community Outreach Comprehensive Plan Update I City of Elk River, Minnesota Prepared by Houseal Lavigne