Town officials received a wealth of opinions about the rural character of Jaffrey during public comment sessions on Friday, information that will be used to help shape the town’s master plan revision.
About 50 people attended the two sessions for public comment, with an additional 375 tuning in via Facebook Live on TEAM Jaffrey’s Facebook page.
“With this information, we will be able to get a flavor for how residents see the town,” said Planning & Economic Development Director Jo Anne Carr.
Those who attended the meeting were split up into four groups, with two tables asked to identify elements of Jaffrey’s distinct community character and the other two asked to identify how Jaffrey can best guide future development while retaining its character.
Bonnie Mitchell said that for the town to move forward, it has to “figure out what we want to be when we grow up,” adding that when the town sets a standard, it is something that needs to be carried out by the town’s administration.
One statistic shared at the meeting was that about 87 percent of people come into Jaffrey from another town, with about 89 percent leaving Jaffrey for work elsewhere.
Many at the meeting discussed this statistic, trying to figure out why so many are commuting out of town for work.
“The jobs aren’t here, that’s why,” said Edward Merrell.
Marc Tieger, when discussing future development, said that most of the people who have moved to Jaffrey did so because of the quality of life in town.
“If you want to be here, you have to try to be here,” said Tieger.
Many in attendance agreed that better infrastructure, broadband internet access, and limiting excessive regulations were solutions to promote future development in town.
Identifying the elements of the town’s character served as a much simpler discussion, with many in attendance pointing to Mount Monadnock, Rails to Trails, Chamber of Commerce and TEAM Jaffrey events, and the Park Theatre as some of the town’s many distinctions.
“There’s a sense of love and comradery,” said Steve Jackson. “We wear love on our sleeves.”
Jackson added that while there is a sense of comradery in town overall, he said he has seen some “community partitions,” specifically between the east and west side of town.
Carr said that she will now look at all of the information that came out of the meeting and try to find common discussion threads that would be beneficial to include in the master plan update.
Carr said two things she noticed already among discussion groups are highlighting the cultural aspects and arts in town, and promoting that the town is the home of Mount Monadnock.
Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 235 or nhandy@ledgertranscript.com. He is also on Twitter @nhandyMLT.