| Julie Fralich |
BLING, the volunteer group that’s working to make our town a more livable lifelong community for all ages, has been busy and moving forward. BLING (short for Building Livable Community in New Gloucester) held a community listening and brainstorming session in late April. Since then, we’ve reviewed all the great suggestions, along with survey results and community data, and discussed next steps.
With so many ideas coming forward, we decided to focus on projects that have the potential for both high impact and high feasibility. We will continue to work on longer-term projects, but in the short term, we are looking for some early winners that can begin to make a big difference. The following is a list of our proposed volunteer-led short- and mid-term projects, organized by topic areas:
Getting Around Safely and Easily
• Identify unsafe areas for walkers, those with strollers/toddlers, bike riders of all ages, and automobiles.
• Implement volunteer traffic calming measures (e.g., walkers with flags, Slow ME Down signs, “Pace Car Program” (drivers obeying speed limits, stickers on their cars).
Housing and Home Improvement and Maintenance
• Publicize existing home repair and maintenance programs (e.g., programs through Community Concepts, Garden Angels through the Cooperative Extension, Area Agencies on Aging).
• Create volunteer program for home repairs and maintenance (e.g., fall and spring volunteer clean-up day, smoke detector installation/battery checks, community volunteers for home repairs/maintenance).
Health and Wellness/Community Support
• Organize guest speakers and/or Lunch and Learn series on topics of interest to residents (e.g., services available at Area Agencies on Aging; technology; educational topics).
• Develop plan for accessing medical supplies and equipment (e.g., New Gloucester lending program or through existing programs with health organizations or others).
Communication and Information
• Create a list of available resources for posting on NGXchange, at the Library, BLING website and Town website, if appropriate.
• Create map and description of trails and walking areas and their safety, accessibility, signage, and resting areas.
• Provide periodic updates of BLING activities and community resources and events.
Over the longer term, we will continue to work on projects that require coordination and support from the Town, as well as on projects with a longer time horizon. Many were identified as priorities in the Comprehensive Plan, such as development of affordable and accessible housing and development of a Complete Streets policy that would provide a plan for the design and maintenance of streets that are safe for users of all ages and abilities. Improved road signage, volunteer transportation programs, and pedestrian and bike trails to connect different areas of town are among the mid- to longer-term initiatives residents have identified.
We invite you to join in these exciting near- and long-term projects! Whether it’s helping to shape priorities and workplans or offering skills and experience to match specific projects, we need your help! If you are interested in being involved in the work of BLING and specifically any of the above projects, please complete the form here or email me at j.fralich@gmail.com.
— Julie Fralich, for BLING, Building Livability in New Gloucester
Click here to complete the BLING Projects and Topics of Interest questionnaire
