This week at the WRC: 1/24 - 1/28
- January 25, 6:00 pm: Full Commission, Remote Meeting via Zoom
- January 25, 1:00 pm: Emergency Planning Committee, Remote meeting via Zoom
- January 26, 12:00 pm: Finance Committee, WRC Conference Room
- January 27, 5:00 pm: Natural Resources Committee, WRC Conference Room
Full Meetings and Events Calendar, and Warnings | Current Newsletter | November 2021 Staff Report
From the Director, Fall 2021: Finding the Balance Between Local Engagement & Urgency to Act on Statewide Climate Action Policy
Vermont asks a lot of its citizen planners. It may soon ask more. I was asked by the Vermont Speaker of the House to serve on the Vermont Climate Council to represent a municipal perspective. It wasn’t a position I sought, but I agreed to serve with the approval of the WRC’s Executive Board. The perspective I bring to the Council is that of a planning professional with 20 plus years of experience and who has insight into the issues of the 27 towns we serve. I’m not speaking on behalf of the WRC. The Council has been hard at work in a whirlwind process. The legislature gave the Council approximately one year to ostensibly reorient Vermont’s and Vermonter’s relationship with energy and land use and establish a just transitions strategy to achieve all of the goals set forth in the Global Warming Solutions Act. The Climate Action Plan is due on December 2nd, and the Council still has a number of critical decisions to make. Much work will have to be done by the Council after the release of what we’re characterizing as an initial plan. Its ongoing development will be an iterative process, including more direct and robust engagement with the public, and taking the time to apply a just transitions lens to all of its recommendations.
Road Foremen Meet After Two Year Hiatus
Representatives from 19 towns met the last week in October 2021 at the Dover Town Garage to discuss issues relevant to their road crews. Whether their title is - road foreman, road commissioner, highway superintendent, or public works director - the folks who take care of your roads came together for what WRC calls a Road Foremen’s meeting—the first one in over two years. The meeting featured a packed agenda, with topics including the current and upcoming funding rounds for Grants in Aid, the Better Roads grant program, equipment grants, attendee’s experiences with leaf blowers and hydro seeders, how towns are using tables and smartphones for mapping, stone lined ditches, and salt and sand availability issues.
Route 30 Transit Study
A transit study is underway in the Windham region that aims to bring public transit service to residents of the Rt. 30 corridor from Brattleboro to Stratton Mountain. Southeast Vermont Transit, in collaboration with VTrans and the Windham Regional Commission have begun work on the study that will evaluate the possibility of fixed route bus service along Rt. 30, through Brattleboro, Newfane, Townshend, Jamaica, and Winhall. RLS & Associates, a transportation consulting firm headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, has been hired to conduct the study.
Windham Region Broadband Project Receives Award
The Windham Regional Commission and its partners, ValleyNet, Rural Innovation Strategies and the Deerfield Valley Communications Union District have received a 2021 Aliceann Wohlbruck Impact Award from the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) for the Windham Region Broadband Project.
The Windham Region Broadband Project was developed pre-COVID pandemic because our communities already understood that their residents who were not connected to the internet were being left behind. It was one of the first projects funded by Vermont’s Broadband Innovation Grant (BIG) program. The primary objective of the Windham Region Broadband Project was to serve the unserved and underserved areas of the region. Once COVID hit, internet access was no longer considered a luxury by anyone but a necessity for work, education, health and well-being.
Nine Towns Apply for Municipal Planning and Bylaw Modernization Grants
A number of Windham region towns worked long and hard to develop and submit applications for Municipal Planning Grants (MPGs) by a November 1 deadline and for Bylaw Modernization Grants (BMGs) by a November 15 deadline. The MPG applicants included:
- Brattleboro for a Walk/Bike Master Plan to evaluate the pedestrian and bicycle system and create a prioritized action plan;
- Putney for a Town Plan update including an Enhanced Energy Plan, mapping and evaluation of Act 171 forest blocks and habitat connectors, and agricultural uses and their supporting lands;
- Rockingham for identifying three alternatives for 37 Main Street and producing a street plan for the west end of the Designated Village Center in Saxtons River;
Guidance Available on the American Rescue Plan Act and What Funds Can Be Used for In Your Community
The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), a response to the impacts of the Coronavirus on the economy, is bringing a lot of important funding to our municipalities. Windham Regional is looking forward to working with you to help answer questions, provide resource information and assist with strategizing for long term economic investment. Questions on what and how municipalities can spend the ARPA money on are numerous and we all will all have to be patient as guidelines for the use of the money are released and then interpreted.
With Regional Plan Assessment, WRC Prepares to Readopt its Current Regional Plan
The Windham Regional Commission (WRC) intends to readopt its current regional plan, originally adopted September 30, 2014, and subsequently amended on April 24, 2018 to include the Windham Regional Energy Plan. Per 24 V.S.A. § 4348b, a regional plan that has expired or is about to expire may be readopted as provided under section 4348 for the adoption of a regional plan or amendment. Prior to readoption, the regional planning commission shall prepare an assessment report which shall be submitted to the Agency of Commerce and Community Development and the municipalities within the region. At its meeting on March 30, 2021, the Full Commission voted unanimously to send this regional plan assessment to the aforementioned statutory parties.
GMP Proposes Use of Pole Socks Statewide
Green Mountain Power (GMP) attended the December 2020 WRC Project Review Committee (PRC) meeting to discuss the relocation of approximately 5700’ of power line along Weatherhead Hollow Road in Guilford which required an Act 250 permit (2W1365). The District 2 Environmental Commission (DEC2) had proposed to permit GMP to use alternate pole materials for several poles that were within wetland or wetland buffer. GMP was resistant to this proposed permit condition, wanting instead to continue to use chemical treated penta poles, and they called for a hearing. Because of this seeming impasse, the PRC suggested to GMP the consideration of the use of plastic ‘pole socks’ as a way to both use penta poles and prevent seepage to the surrounding environment.
Grants In Aid Program Brings Nearly Half a Million Dollars to Region’s Towns
Twenty-six towns in the Windham Region are each poised to receive anywhere from $5,000 to as much as $31,000 this year for construction projects to improve water quality and make their roads more resilient. The Grants in Aid program provides funds to towns to help them comply with the conditions of Vermont’s Municipal Roads General Permit. Construction projects can include ditching and stone lining or seeding, and small culvert upgrades.
CISMA: Fighting the Spread of Invasives Through Education
Regional organizations and foresters have banded together to form the Southeastern Vermont Cooperative Invasive Species Management Alliance (CISMA), a group looking at forest invasives and how to manage them. As part of the steering committee, WRC staff have been involved in helping form the CISMA and launch its fall and winter webinars focusing on forest invasives.
Cleanup and Assessment Funds Approved for the Garage in Bellows Falls
The WRC Executive Board approved an RLF cleanup grant for Windham Windsor Housing Trust in December 2020 for the Garage Project in Bellows Falls. The approved cleanup funds are a small but important piece of the funding stack needed to redevelop this site, which was originally built as a garage and also housed a dry cleaners and a dyers. The site will be redeveloped into apartments affordable to residents of various income levels. While the site fronts on Rockingham Street in downtown Bellows Falls, it also has incredible views to the east of the Connecticut River and beyond. Below is an architectural drawing of the revitalized site that will include a commercial space on the Rockingham Street level.
Check out "Energy Bites," Lunchtime Programs for Energy Efficiency
Energy Bites: Lunchtime Programs for Energy Efficiency is a short series of presentations offered to energy committees and residents to learn more about energy efficiency opportunities for homes and businesses. There are many ways that residents can save money and decrease their carbon footprint. These programs highlight partners throughout the State of Vermont who are offering incentives for residents to accomplish their energy efficiency goals.
Addressing COVID-19 Restrictions with Interim Bylaws: WRC Can Help
The WRC is available to assist towns interested in addressing issues in their zoning that may hinder re-opening of businesses under COVID-10 restrictions. If there are solutions not currently permissible, such as facilitating outdoor dining areas, you may be able to address them through short-term or temporary amendments to the zoning bylaws.
Collaborating with numerous partners, the WRC helped to develop a brief guidance document on how towns may address COVID-19 pandemic restrictions through the use of Interim Bylaws. You can access that guidance document here.
COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Team Forms
The WRC has been involved with the formation of a multi-sector team focused on the response and recovery needs of residents in the Windham Region. This team, called the Windham Region COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Committee (CCRRC), is led by Sue Graff with the local Vermont Agency of Human Services district, and meets regularly to share updates, identify gaps and needs, and allocate resources appropriately. It functions as an ad hoc committee of the Southern Windham Community Organizations Active in Disaster (SWCOAD).
From the Chair & Director: WRC Operations During COVID-19 Social Distancing
The Windham Regional Commission stands ready to assist the towns of the Windham Region with their needs during this time of global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the immediate term we have provided the town contacts that we have to the local Department of Health districts so they have a direct line of communication with you, and we have sent towns information about continuity of operations planning. The following is an update.
