We wish to thank the members of the 21st Century Task Force on the Cape Cod Commission for volunteering so much time and energy to the review of our agency's mission and operations. We are particularly grateful to Chairman Elliott Carr and Vice Chairmen Wendy Northcross and Tom Evans for fairly and expediently managing a complex review.

We appreciate the diversity of views expressed and the constructive changes proposed by the Task Force. In their deliberations, the Task Force members had to wrestle with the same challenging land use planning and regulatory issues that Commission members and staff face every day. The Commission will approach implementing the Task Force's recommendations with equal determination, applying better planning techniques to manage the impacts of growth. With the guidance of the Barnstable County Commissioners, we are optimistic about the positive changes we can make.

A few things stand out right away:

First, we heard loudly and clearly that there is a need for the Cape Cod Commission to coordinate and communicate better with public officials in Cape Cod's towns. We are committing ourselves to that effort as we move forward.

Second, we embrace the idea of better planning through better mapping. Land use can be planned, growth managed, and better zoning implemented when informed by accurate data and accompanied by the will to make needed changes. Coordinating geographic information technology and applying it more uniformly throughout the region to distinguish desired growth areas from those needing protection will not only help honor Cape Cod's resources, but also should help all -- regional regulators, town boards, and developers alike -- to make better land use decisions.

Third, we agree that streamlining some of the Commission's processes could well produce better results. Our efforts last year to implement streamlined reviews for "Projects of Community Benefit" and our current work to develop "Limited Review" for Developments of Regional Impact (DRIs) should go a long way toward minimizing regulations while still minimizing the most significant negative impacts from any particular development.

The Task Force report includes many more recommendations than these, and we intend to carefully consider each one. The Cape Cod Commission has already formed an in-house steering committee to oversee its response to the Task Force report. Current Commission Chair Brad Crowell from Dennis is leading that effort.