This week at the WRC: 5/10 - 5/14
- May 11, 6:00 pm: Executive Board, remote meeting
- May 13, 5:00 pm: Community Development Committee, remote meeting
Full Meetings and Events Calendar, and Warnings | Current Newsletter | March 2021 Staff Report
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From the Director, March 2021: Planning Needs in the Upcoming Return to Something Like Normal
With the promise of a return to something like normal with the vaccination of the population, what are your planning priorities? We’d like to know so we can think ahead about how we can be of help. The extent to which town planning commissions have continued work through the pandemic has been inspiring! But we also know that some work has been deferred until face-to-face meetings can resume.
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.
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.
Wrapping up the Local Government Expense Reimbursement Grant
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.
In the Field with Lisa Donnelly, WRC’s GIS/Transportation Tech
Working remotely is easy when your office is outdoors! Most of my 2020 field season was spent collecting road erosion inventory data, conducting traffic counts, inspecting Grants In Aid sites, and setting up pedestrian counters in on hiking trails. Because some of this work required several days of long commutes from Brattleboro, I had the unique opportunity to combine my love of the outdoors with my work by setting up camp at some of Vermont's State Parks. For example, camping at Jamaica State Park while working on the road erosion inventory in Winhall shortened my commute from 45 minutes to 10. As a bonus, I got to end my day relaxing by a campfire!
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.
WRC Welcomes Abby Touchet as Summer GIS/Transportation Technician
Abby Touchet’s grandfather was the longtime highway superintendent of Westhampton, Massachusetts. That seems fitting, as Abby will be spending time this summer walking the roads of the Windham Region doing culvert inventories and working on a host of other GIS and transportation projects. Currently she’s focusing on Guilford’s culvert inventory.
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.
COVID-19 Information and Support for the Businesses & Economy of the Windham Region
The Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation, the regional development corporation for the Windham Region, is coordinating the regional response to the economic impacts of the pandemic. The BDCC has formed the COVID-19 Windham Economic Resiliency Team, which includes the WRC, and is serving as a conduit of information to and from the region’s business community.
For more information visit: https://brattleborodevelopment.com/covid-19/.
Coordination of Volunteers in Response to COVID-19
Volunteer coorination in response to COVID-19 is happening at the state level and regionally. The State of Vermont is looking for volunteers in a variety of areas and professions to help in communities across the State that have been affected by COVID-19. The state's volunteer website directs residents with health care training to register with regional Medical Reserve Corps units. Those teams can supplement local health care providers if hospitals get overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases. Volunteers are also being sought with other skills, among them drivers, food service workers and construction workers. To sign up go to: https://www.vermont.gov/volunteer
