The Select Board elected Mike Stevens as chairperson for the coming fiscal year. One of his first actions was to propose an updated process for reviewing past goals and improving the board’s selection process, with the aim of focusing proactively on the town’s highest priorities.

FY2027 Goals

The Select Board adopted the following goals for fiscal year 2027, covering July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027, following the process outlined below.

Goal: Improve public communication and engagement by implementing accessible, inclusive and user-friendly methods of sharing information and facilitating engagement with residents and stakeholders.

Strategies:

• Utilize a range of communication channels, both existing and yet to be explored, including hosting forums with stakeholders such as the School Committee, Finance Committee and others; offering content to private outlets such as The Maynard Voice; and offering segments to WAVM, Maynard High School’s multimedia program.
• Advocate directly to state delegates, especially regarding critical elements of the town’s goals for progress, namely water supply.

Goal: Improve budget planning to address long-term goals for the maintenance and improvement of capital assets and infrastructure.

Strategies:

• Improve processes to identify and prioritize long-term financial goals, including the School Department, water and sewer operations (namely the Rockland Avenue Water Supply and Treatment facility), and roadway and sidewalk design and improvements.
• Establish an advisory body that integrates capital condition assessments with financial forecasting and resource planning to support informed decision-making.
• Pursue proactive housing and economic development.

Goal: Support sustainable planning that incorporates climate change adaptation and mitigation best practices while addressing the means for economic and community progress.

Strategies:

• Continue progress on improving the adaptivity of town operations and sustainable practices, focusing on stormwater management; flooding and other natural hazard controls and preparedness; temperature extremes; and regionalization.
• Support plans to improve housing access, roadway conditions, downtown vitality and effective transportation options.

How the Goals Were Set

During the goal-review meeting, the Select Board divided its discussion into four parts.

First, the board reviewed the past year, considering what has changed both internally and externally for the town, identifying emerging opportunities and reflecting on the community’s current strengths and weaknesses. Stevens said the intent was to encourage the board to be forward-thinking rather than simply reviewing existing goals.

Next, the board reviewed its existing FY26 goals, assessing how effective they had been and whether there was good reason to maintain, modify or retire each one.

The board then deliberately set the existing goals aside and turned its attention to topics not explicitly addressed in the current goals, such as transportation, economic development and infrastructure, to determine whether any should be elevated to strategic goal status.

The board concluded the meeting by reviewing the discussion, identifying the principal themes, and consolidating them into the framework for the new goals.

Stevens provided the board with a written outline to help focus the discussion. It read, in part:

“When most of the existing goals remain valid, the challenge is usually avoiding two traps: spending the entire meeting re-approving last year’s goals, and failing to generate genuinely new ideas. This structure is intended to focus our attention on both reflection and forward thinking. The prompts are guidelines rather than items that have to be checked off.”

The outline broke the meeting into four segments: exploring current conditions (20 to 30 minutes), reviewing existing goals (five minutes per goal), generating new ideas (30 to 40 minutes) and consolidating those ideas into goal language (30 minutes).

The Select Board recognized the ongoing challenges facing the town while also acknowledging the organization’s capacity to address those challenges realistically, in ways that can meaningfully guide policy and administrative priorities.

Water Supply and Economic Development

A subsequent discussion addressed the relationship between the town’s water supply constraints and its economic development options.

“Over the next few years, Maynard is unlikely to be able to rely on significant housing growth as a source of economic development because of the current limitations on our water supply. We will therefore need to look more actively at other opportunities for economic development and make the most of the assets and opportunities Maynard already has,” Stevens said. “This will certainly be a challenge, but the board recognizes that a more deliberate and proactive approach to economic development will be important to the town’s financial and economic future.”

Stevens said an amendment to the FY2027 goals addressing this issue will be forthcoming.

Looking Ahead

The town’s major priorities have not changed substantially since the Select Board’s goal-setting session last July. Even so, board members said the meeting was valuable because it provided an opportunity to step back, revisit the Select Board’s core mission, and consider how the board’s goals can best support positive outcomes for the community.

Sources: Town of Maynard website, Bob McCarthy