The Boothbay Harbor Walkability Steering Committee met on September 23 to plan the next community meeting to bring the Walkability project forward.

This next step involves coming up with a logo to represent Boothbay Harbor, and a one-sentence theme to sum up what Boothbay Harbor means to the community.

To that end, the committee is setting up a meeting of local people to discover what is most important to people of the town.

Last October, Dan Burden of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute came to Boothbay Harbor and conducted a wakability audit along with 50 local residents, in an effort to determine how pedestrian-friendly Boothbay Harbor is, and what kind of improvements could be made.

Many ideas came out of that initial meeting. Just some of these included improving the waterfront, creating walking paths and way-finding routes for pedestrians and vehicles, turning the intersections in town into “mini-roundabouts,” and beautifying the alleys.

Before any ideas are implemented, the initial group decided that the harbor should have a brand that would set the town apart. A symbol and a general theme to bring everything together and make it cohesive.

Members of the steering committee in attendance on Monday included planning board chairman Michael Tomko, selectman Denise Griffin, Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce executive director Catherine Fossett, Jane Lafleur from Friends of Midcoast Maine, Jason Sheckley, owner of the Harbor Theatre, and resident Frank Fassett.

The next community meeting to decide on the town’s logo has been planned for Thursday, Oct. 24, from 5:15 to 8 p.m. in the YMCA Coastal Club Room. The committee discussed having dinner for participants, and Fassett offered to foot the bill for the catering. Sheckley offered to donate announcements to run at the theatre.

The committee discussed other ways to get the word out to locals in the community, including students in the school system.

“We need to get a good cross-section of locals for this,” Tomko said. “We want people from all walks of life and all ages to make sure this branding is true for everyone.”

Questions that will be discussed to create the logo include: What do you love about the Boothbay region? What brought you here? Why do you stay? And how would you describe the region?

“We need a vision based on the entire community,” Tomko said. “A cohesive, unifying view. What do people think of first when they think of Boothbay Harbor? The footbridge, lobstermen, or maybe Allen's Coffee Brandy?”

Lafleur agreed. “When we discuss the values of community, we need to find out which ones are at the top of the list.”

“This whole process will make the region ‘stickier,'” Fassett said. “People will come, and people will stay. A destination, not just a day trip.”

For more information or the RSVP for the meeting, email Lafleur at jblafleur@friendsmidcoast.org.

Katrina Clark can be reached at 207-633-4620 or katrinaclark@boothbayregister.com. Follow her on Twitter: @BBRegisterClark or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BBRegisterKatrinaClark.