Meetings Meeting Summary for the Kickoff Retreat Saturday, March 27, 2004 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. On Saturday, March 27, 2004, the Fermilab Community Task Force on Public Participation (Task Force) held a kickoff retreat for its members. Members in Attendance Sally Arnold Tom Cuculich Roger Dixon Edi Eckley John Fildes Tom Flanders Alan Gard Tom Kowske Vivian Lund Mike McCoy Jeff Metzger Steve Pawlowicz Jeff Schielke Ed Weiss Herman White Barbara Zeitz Members Absent Kim Carlson Connie Cooke Eva Cruz Mark Inithar Leroy Mitchell Debbie Perryman Welcome and Introductions David Bidwell, facilitator for the Task Force, introduced himself and welcomed the Task Force members to the retreat. Judy Jackson, Director of Public Affairs for Fermilab, also welcomed the group and expressed excitement that the Task Force was getting underway. Pairs of Task Force members interviewed each other about their interest in Fermilab and why they wanted to participate in the Task Force. The members also shared the most interesting myths that they had heard regarding Fermilab. After a few minutes, the members introduced each other to the full group. Mike Witherell, Fermilab Director, addressed the group briefly and welcomed them to the Task Force. He stated that Fermilab values its relationship with its neighbors and believes that the active participation of the community in Fermilab decision making will be critical to the laboratory's long-term success. Purpose of the Task Force Judy Jackson explained to the members why the Community Task Force on Public Participation was formed by Fermilab and reviewed the purpose of the group. Judy reported that the laboratory has been interested in convening a task group for several years, and noted that the DOE Office of Science had encouraged the lab to create an advisory group. She cited examples where other high-energy physics laboratories had experienced success and failures in their relationship with the communities in which they are located, adding that Fermilab would like to avoid the mistakes and follow the example of sites that have established positive relationships. Judy also displayed aerial photographs of Fermilab in 1970 and 1999, which show the tremendous growth of development in the communities surrounding the laboratory over that time. Judy further explained why the laboratory is starting the Task Force now, when there are no burning issues to debate and no proposals for an offsite project. She acknowledged that staying on the cutting edge of physics would require the construction of larger and more powerful particle accelerators, which could eventually lead to construction beyond the Fermilab borders. She stated that the lab has a unique opportunity to ask the community how it would like to be consulted when issues, such as construction of a new facilitator, arise in future. Fermilab is asking the Task Force to answer the question: "How should Fermilab interact with the community when issues arise that affect us both?" Judy shared results of a 2001 survey, which showed that slightly more than half of the people living in communities surrounding Fermilab say that they are familiar or somewhat familiar with the lab. Of those, most believe that the research conducted at Fermilab is safe and trust Fermilab to do the right thing environmentally. Almost all of the survey respondents believed that Fermilab should maintain or expand its current operations, but that support drops in half when asked if Fermilab should expand beyond its present boundaries. In summary, Judy stated that Fermilab hopes to continue as a leader in high-energy physics. The laboratory believes the future of Fermilab and U.S. science will require involvement of the community. Tour of Fermilab The Task Force members went on a two-hour tour of the laboratory. The tour included a bus ride around major sections of the laboratory and stops at several key facilities. These included the CDF and DZero experiments, which use different methods to detect events in the Tevatron particle accelerator. The group also visited the Minos neutrino experiment, which is just completing construction, and the Main Control Room, which manages the operation of the Tevatron accelerator. At these stops, scientists acted as guides and answered questions from Task Force members. The tour concluded at the Technical Division conference room. Discussion of Information Needs Over lunch, the Task Force discussed information that the group would need to fulfill its purpose and other general issues related to Fermilab's relationship to the community. Key Task Force needs for information on Fermilab: Current community outreach and communication efforts Current relationship to area schools Expectations for how the lab's mission could change over time Impact on local community development and population growth Economic and other impacts of other physics research facilities coming on line (e.g., new accelerator in Europe) Impacts of increased security Potential impacts to community access to the laboratory Ownership and management of the land Potential of future development on the Fermilab property (i.e., What protects the Fermilab property from development?) Budget and economic impacts Relationship to outlying communities In a general discussion among the Task Force members, they offered a number of suggestions for how Fermilab could communicate with the community. These included providing laymen's explanations of Fermilab activities and why Fermilab research matters to the community. Introduction to Particle Physics Judy provided the group with a brief introduction to particle physics. Her presentation began with the Fermilab mission: "…to advance the understanding of the fundamental nature of matter and energy by providing leadership and resources for qualified researchers to conduct basic research at the frontiers of high energy physics and related disciplines." Judy explained that particle physics (sometimes called high-energy physics) is "the science of matter and energy, space and time." Judy explained that Fermilab has been instrumental in developing a model of elementary particles and discovering several of its components. She further explained, however, that high-energy physics is at frontier of understanding, because scientists have recently discovered that their model only accounts for five percent of the universe. Physics researchers worldwide are now on a quest to discover the nature of "dark matter" and "dark energy." She explained that greater discoveries are made possible by increasing the energy of collisions in accelerators. This means that particle physicists are discussing the need for the next, higher-energy accelerator. Judy listed the five major high-energy physics labs, which are found in Switzerland, Germany, Japan, California, and Illinois. She stated that Fermilab hopes to be a major player in the new frontier of dark matter research and noted that Fermilab's future is closely tied to the future of particle physics in the United States. Review of the Draft Task Force Charter David reviewed a draft Task Force charter with the group. He stressed the importance of the group understanding its mission and guidelines for how the Task Force would function, in order to prevent surprises and disagreements from arising later in the process. The group discussed the Task Force purpose, the scope of its mission, guidelines for membership, guidelines for meetings and other events, and Task Force decision making. The group will make decisions by consensus. David stressed that consensus is finding solutions that all members can support, and that this requires all members to understand one another's interests and participate in crafting recommendations. Key discussion points: The expected outcome of the Task Force is a set of recommendations that Fermilab can use to develop a comprehensive policy for public participation. The charter should specify that the Task Force includes representatives from DuPage, Kane, and DeKalb county government, as well as the mayors of Batavia and Warrenville. The Task Force understands that although members serve as individuals, the public would expect representatives from these municipal governments to represent their municipalities' interests. For the time being, the Task Force does not need leadership from within its membership. It will rely on the facilitator and Fermilab to set meeting agendas and guide the group. If subcommittees are formed, the Task Force should strive to compose these subcommittees of diverse interests. David stated that he would provide the members with a revised charter prior to its next meeting. At that meeting, the Task Force will be asked to formally accept the charter. Meeting Schedule and Next Meeting The Task Force agreed to meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Due to commuting times, the Task Force meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. and end at 9:00 p.m. The next meeting of the Fermilab Task Force on Public Participation is Tuesday, April 27 from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. at Fermilab's Wilson Hall. This meeting is open to the public.