The Membership Committee met for two hours on Wednesday, July 11^th, 2001 at Sarnoff Corporation. The purpose of this memorandum is to summarize the recommendations agreed to by all members present at the meeting. The Committee felt that these recommendations move the mission of the Roundtable forward, ensure equity and will aid in building consensus and understanding. The Committee is willing to reconvene in the future if questions regarding membership arise again.

In our discussions we reviewed the mission of the Roundtable and sought to ensure that there was a "working group of stakeholders" that "could consider the mobility issues facing the Penns Neck area and work together to address differences of opinion and approach and to strive for consensus on workable solutions that could address the mobility issues."

As an initial step, the Project Team put together a well-thought out list of organizations invited to participate in the Roundtable. They tried to ensure that all perspectives, a wide range of knowledge and interests were represented.

Throughout this meeting, Committee members kept in mind the following comments from the June 29^th Roundtable meeting:

• Size matters in this process if progress is to be made.
• The Roundtable must ensure fairness and adequate representation.
• The Roundtable will meet for over 2 years and thus, there is a need for consistent representation.
• It is important that all prospective stakeholders are represented.

The Committee feel that their recommendations ensure that local interests are represented, equity is gained, and a variety of perspectives are at the table. These recommendations can be a first step in beginning to build trust and open communication between members. This is essential if this consensus process is to begin and continue into the future. The committee made recommendations in the following areas:

1. Restructuring of the Roundtable membership

• Advisory Committee
• Current Representatives
• New Invitees

1. Next Steps

• Letter to Invitees and Current Membership
• Suggestions for Membership Requirements

1. Other Thoughts

The Roundtable is an innovative advisory committee that was set up to assist in shaping the Penns Neck Area EIS process. Thus, the Committee wanted to ensure that those in the community that are involved with, and affected by, any potential solutions and/or alternatives that arise from this EIS process have a seat or are represented in some way at this Roundtable.

1. Formation of an Advisory Committee

The Project Team did an excellent job in pulling together members for this Roundtable. However, in reviewing the membership list we felt that several current members at the federal, state, and regional level are more than just "stakeholders." These groups are involved in setting regulatory policy, enforcing regulations, or have a legislative authority in the EIS process. Their participation in this process is essential. However, because of their regulatory and policy responsibilities, it was not clear that they should or could be involved in influencing discussion and being a part of the consensus. Nevertheless, these groups need to be aware of the local and regional perspectives that are involved with this process. The members of the Roundtable also need the advice and guidance that these groups can offer in areas such as pertinent regulations, planning alternatives, transportation alternatives and innovations, and environmental concerns, to name a few.

Thus, the Committee recommends that the following organizations act as an advisory committee to this Roundtable:

• United States Environmental Protection Agency
• Federal Highway Administration
• New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
• New Jersey Department of Transportation
• Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
• North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority

The following groups are currently represented:

• County governments
• Local municipalities
• Greater Mercer TMA
• Princeton University
• Sarnoff Corporation
• Tri-State Transportation Campaign
• Chamber of Commerce of the Princeton Area
• Stony Brook Millstone Watershed Association
• Regional Planning Partnership
• Millstone Bypass Alert Coalition
• Sensible Transportation Options Partnership
• Penns Neck Residents
• Princeton Junction Communities
• Sierra Club
• Washington Road Elms Preservation Trust
• Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission

In reviewing the membership, the Committee felt that there were several groups that are impacted by the current situation, and will be affected by any potential solution(s), that are not adequately represented. These include community groups and local business and merchant interests in both West Windsor and Princeton. Two community groups (West Windsor Citizens for Transportation Alternatives and the Harrison Street Neighborhood Association) submitted requests for invitations to participate to the Project Team and to Noelle Mackay, Chair of the Membership Committee. The Committee, through discussion at the Roundtable and at this meeting, also felt that there was not sufficient representation of the various business interests. Accordingly, the list of organizations recommended for invitation include:

• West Windsor Citizens for Transportation Alternatives (asked for official representation)
• Harrison Street Neighborhood Association (asked for official representation)
• Mercer County Chamber of Commerce
• Princeton Township Merchants Association
• Princeton Borough Merchants Association
• West Windsor Division of the Mercer County Chamber of Commerce
• Princeton Junction Merchants Association

We began with 26 organizations on the membership list (note this number does not include the Princeton Junction Chamber of Commerce as their membership was listed as pending on the table). The Committee recommends that the 6 aforementioned members (section 1a) become part of an advisory group and that the above 7 groups be invited to join, keeping the membership manageable at 27 if all the groups decide to participate as a member.

The Committee also feels that the membership can be contained in the future if we make use of existing work groups such as the Central New Jersey Transportation Forum, which has conducted extensive research and work in this project area and has a comprehensive network of participants.

2. Next Steps

The Membership Committee recommends sending a letter to suggested invitees as well as the current members, so that everyone is on equal footing. The letter should be sent to the head of each organization and would contain the following:

• Information on the Roundtable;
• Mention the unique opportunity to participate in such an innovative process;
• Importance that participants leave some of their notions at the door and try to be open to listening and participating in this consensus process;
• Mention the need to be open and listen to other viewpoints in order to move forward;
• Include a list of the current representatives, and ask if the invitee would like a separate seat at the Roundtable, or would he/she indicate an organization currently on the Roundtable that he/she feels could adequately represent his/her interests. That chosen organization must be aware and willing to speak for the invitee;
• Ask that each new group provides a description of the organization and its perspective and that each group already at the Roundtable review the existing description from the Project Team and make appropriate changes; and
• Outline the membership requirements (see below).

One recurring comment during our discussion was the need for the members of the Roundtable to understand their role, where and how they fit into the process and what is required of them. Several membership requirements were suggested:

• The organization’s representative and alternate(s) must be able to speak for his/her organization at the Roundtable and voice its perspective.
• It is important that the perspective of each member is expressed to the Roundtable as a whole.
• Any opinions should be shared with all members of the Roundtable whether at or between Roundtable meetings. Any communication should be shared with the entire Roundtable.
• This communication is an important part of the dialogue to ensure that opinions are heard in a timely manner and are part of the information gained for the consensus process.
• If representing other organization(s), the Roundtable member has the responsibility to ensure that those they represent are aware of progress at the meetings, any decisions that were made and upcoming issues of interest. Those being represented by a member also have the responsibility to remain informed and make their member aware of their views, concerns and ideas.

In our discussion, the committee voiced some other ideas on membership and participation in this process:

• It is important that all members of the Roundtable understand the make-up of the group. There should be a clear description of each organization, and its perspective. Thus, a membership list should be available with representative names and contact information.
• It is important to ensure that each perspective is heard and registered
• The Project Team and members of the Roundtable should feel comfortable asking others in the group their views. Conducting polls at appropriate junctures in future discussions may also be helpful for increasing communication and understanding. Silence is not always indicative of understanding or consensus.