The Strategic Harbor Plan Committee on Oct. 30 agreed to move the five prioritized street‑end locations toward a design phase while deferring any final decisions until follow‑up studies and neighborhood outreach are complete. Chair K. said the city will seek grants to fund planning and design for each site and work with traffic and police to evaluate neighborhood impacts.

The committee emphasized balancing neighborhood concerns with restoring public waterfront access. "We don't wanna do something that's gonna cause, havoc in the neighborhood, but we also wanna make sure that these publicly accessible points are open to some extent," K. said, noting many street ends are currently used as extensions of private yards.

Members asked the city to pursue legal analysis of property records to determine the town's right of way and to address encroachments. One member asked, "At what point do we bring in corporation counsel to start, you know, sending property owners letters?" Steve (staff member) said he would contact outside counsel Darren Callahan and loop in Amelia and other committee members for a coordinated approach.

The committee discussed next steps for each street end: produce two to three conceptual alternatives in a conceptual design phase, analyze pros and cons for circulation and parking impacts, and conduct direct outreach to affected neighborhoods. Multiple members said signage or other demarcation could be implemented at minimum to clarify public ownership prior to or instead of more extensive infrastructure.

Amelia (city planner) said the team will update the harbor plan to document the recommended next steps and circulate revised slides and materials to the committee. The revised deliverable will include the recommended design work, an outline of stakeholder outreach, and a funding plan. Public hearings are likely later if the plan is incorporated into the city's Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), which would bring additional review by the Planning & Zoning Commission and Common Council.

Clarifying details, such as specific timelines for design, exact grant sources to be pursued, and potential enforcement actions by corporation counsel, were not specified and will be developed during the next phase of work.

The committee set a short turnaround: staff will begin outreach to counsel and return an updated deliverable for committee review in about a week to 10 days.