News
First Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Project Completed
Windham Regional Commission (WRC) is pleased to announce completion of its first Windham Region Brownfields Reuse Initiative-Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (WRBRI-RLF) project: The Bellows Falls Historic Riverfront Park and Trail System.
WRC Presents Testimony on VY Closure Before House Committees
Below is a link to testimony presented on October 28, 2013 by Windham Regional Commission before the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee and the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee about the impacts of the closure of Vermont Yankee. Link to testimony.
Information Related to the Closure of Vermont Yankee
Information as of August 30, 2013, including:
- WRC Statement on Announcement by Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee That the Plant Will Close in 2014
- VY Employees by Town
- Resiliency Action Plan for the Town of Vernon in Preparation for the Eventual Closure of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station
Creative Planning and Public Participation In Londonderry
Londonderry residents and a team from Marlboro College’s Center for Creative Solutions (CCS), in partnership with Windham Regional Commission explored how to best use soon to be town owned properties severely damaged by flooding from Tropical Storm Irene. Participants in the six-day planning workshop held in early August generated three different options for how the buyout properties could provide opportunities for flood mitigation and at the same time be a multipurpose green space for the community. Conventionally, these purposes could be seen as mutually exclusive. However, there was nothing conventional about this community planning process.
I-91 Bridge Replacement Begins
On Tuesday, July 24th, there was a well attended public meeting on the design, engineering and pre-construction of Bridge 9 on I-91 that spans the West River. It was exciting to see this project so close to the actual construction phase. The development process for this project was compressed, but at the request of the WRC, VTrans allowed public involvement and input into the aesthetics of the bridge design.
WRC receives $400,000 in EPA Brownfields Grant Funding to use in the Region
EPA recently announced that the Windham Regional Commission will receive $400,000 in EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant funds (petroleum and hazardous substances). All together this funding has brought a total of $3.15 million dollars in federal Brownfields funds to the region since the program’s inception in 2000. Brownfields are land and buildings whose expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.
WRC Awards First Grants, Loan, Through Brownfields Cleanup Fund
Windham Regional Commission (WRC) is pleased to announce the following grants and loans from the Windham Region Brownfields Reuse Initiative- Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (WRBRI-RLF). A total of $272,266 will be made available to Deerfield Valley Transit Association (MOOVER), Main Street Arts and Bellows Falls Historical Society to provide resources to help them with the clean up of their Brownfield properties.
Commonwealth Dairy Wins Award for Brownfields Redevelopment
The Windham Regional Commission (WRC) and Commonwealth Dairy are proud to announce that the Commonwealth Dairy project was honored at the Phoenix Awards ceremony during Brownfields 2013 in Atlanta, GA, May 16, 2013. Created in 1997, this prestigious award honors individuals and groups working to solve critical environmental or social challenges, transforming blighted and contaminated areas into productive new uses, and sustainable development projects. The Phoenix Award winners represent outstanding Brownfield projects from each of the 10 EPA regions.
Energy Siting Commission Recommends Strong Planning Role
The VT Energy Generation Siting Policy Commission has released its report detailing its recommendations. Among the recommendations are robust regional and municipal energy siting planning, which can lead to greater standing of plans in the Section 248 process. I strongly encourage everyone interested in this issue to read the report in its entirety, including the dissenting opinion from Siting Commission member Louise McCarren. The report and minority opinion are available here. Thanks to the members of the Siting Commission for their hard work on a challenging subject.
Recent Forestry Forum Spawned Sharing of Ideas
WRC Natural Resources Committee hosted on April 18 their third forum in an ongoing series to bring together conservation minded people in our region to network and learn. The Spring 2013 topic covered two main topics on Forestry. Graduate students from the Conway School presented their research from last winter, where they collected stories from local foresters, and ideas and data to tell the story of cultural, economic, and conservation values of the working forest landscape of the Windham Region.
What's New With The Southern Vermont Post Tropical Storm Irene Recovery Project
Windham Regional Commission (WRC) and Bennington County Regional Commission (BCRC), along with our correlating Regional Development Corporations, the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) and the Bennington County Industrial Corporation applied for and received funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration Disaster Recovery Grant program. An important part of this work is to bring added professional capacity to Southern Vermont to assist with economic recovery post Tropical Storm Irene.
January 2013 State Approved Town Road and Bridge Standards
The Town Road and Bridge Standards represent the work of a culmination of working groups (including VTrans, ANR, RPCs, and VT Local Roads) focused on infrastructure criteria to be adhered before hand when a natural disaster occurs. The January 2013 state-approved Standards include: reconstruction of gravel and paved roads, erosion control measures, culvert and bridge designs, installing guardrails based on project specificity, and access management. A copy of these Standards can be found here.
Town Profile Data Available
As part of the information gathering process for the Regional Profile update, the WRC collected current available U.S. Census and American Community Survey data for each of the 27 towns that it represents. The data was collected for broad catagories of analysis pertaining to population, economics, housing, and transportation. In most cases, the data was collected from the 2010 Census figures, but in some cases more recent data was available. The raw data collected is available in Excel or PDF format for any towns wishing to obtain this information. Please contact Cullen Meves at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (802) 257-4547 ext. 108.
Parcel Data Now Available in Google Earth-Compatible Format
Have you ever wanted to look at a town’s digital parcel data but you don’t have the necessary GIS software? Now you can look at that data in Google Earth, a popular and free mapping software that many people already have on their computer. WRC GIS staff have recently converted all available digital parcel data in the Windham Region to “KMZ” files.
Conway Students Investigate Forestry in the Region
Three graduate students from the Conway School Graduate Program in Sustainable Landscape and Design are working on a project this quarter to tell the story of forestry in the Windham Region. The goal of their project is to prepare materials to build greater understanding of the cultural, economic, and conservation values of the working forest landscape of the Region.
WRC Releases Report on Undeveloped Waters in SE Vermont
Windham Regional Commission (WRC) has just released the report “Undeveloped Waters in Southeastern Vermont.” It is the result of several years of work by Commission staff to identify and characterize the nature of the undeveloped rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds in the southern portion of the Windham Region and a small area in the adjacent Bennington County Region. Undeveloped refers to the state of the land adjoining these water bodies.
Forty lakes and ponds, with shoreline totaling nearly 100 miles, and over 1,400 miles of rivers and streams, were analyzed. What did we find?
Complete Streets Implementation Guidance for Municipalities Now Available
In May, 2011, the Complete Streets Bill was signed into law. The guidance as to how the law is to be implemented at the municipal level has now been released. Complete Streets – A Guide for Vermont Communities was developed by the Vermont Department of Health in cooperation with a variety of transportation, health and aging organizations in order to demonstrate and provide examples of Complete Streets projects already in place, as well as overarching planning guidelines for future initiatives. Hard copies have been distributed to each town by the WRC. The guide is available from the Vermont Department of Health here, or AARP here.
EDA awards $470,000 in disaster funding to Regional Commissions for Capacity Building in Southern Vermont
The Windham Regional Commission (WRC) and the Bennington County Regional Commission (BCRC) have been notified by the Vermont Federal Delegation that they have been awarded $472,000 in disaster recovery funds by the US Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. This EDA investment supports disaster recovery capacity building for the Southern Vermont region. The project will establish two flood recovery offices that will expand the capacity of public officials and economic development organizations to work effectively with businesses and encourage the development of innovative public/private approaches to economic restructuring, revitalization and resiliency.
Windham Regional Mobility Study Completed
Over the past year, WRC staff has been working on the Windham Region Mobility Study: Coordination of Transportation Services to Improve Mobility for All of the Windham Region’s Residents. This Study came about through a collaborative effort among public transit providers, school supervisory unions, youth service organizations, institutions of higher education, human service agencies, non-profits, economic development agencies, and others. This diverse group of stakeholders came together to promote the common goal of increasing mobility in the Windham Region through the coordination and integration of current and future transportation services, including public transit and school buses.
Southern Vermont Rivers Conference a Success!
Approximately 60 people attended the Southern Vermont Rivers Conference on Oct. 16 in Wilmington. The day-long event provided information to road crews, town officials, zoning administrators, Development Review Board members, and other from from Bennington and Windham Regions, and VT Road Scholar and Certified Floodplain Management (CFM) credits were provided. For more information, contact Dinah Reed at (802) 257-4547 ext. 109 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Copies of the presentations in PDF format are below (we will be adding more as we receive them):
- River Science: The Old and the New – Sacha Pealer, River Scientist, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
- Permitting and Regulation, Act 138 - Rob Evans, River Corridor and Floodplain Manager, Vt ANR
- Permitting and Regulation, NFIP After the Flood - Rebecca Pfeiffer, Floodplain Manager, Vt ANR
From the Director, August 2012 - HUD Approves $4.5 million for Windham County
In the last newsletter we explained that the Windham Region would have to compete for a very small pool of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds. On Thursday, July 19th we learned from Jen Hollar, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development (DEHCD), that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved the state’s request that up to $4.5 million in CDBG-DR funds be made available to Windham County out of the $17,328,169 that had been targeted exclusively to Washington and Windsor Counties. We appreciate the hard work of everyone at the state, federal and local levels to make this happen!
Report: Recommended Aesthetic Criteria for the Replacement I-91 Bridge Over the West River
On Thursday, August 16th the WRC hosted a public outreach meeting to gather public input on the aesthetics and design of a new bridge that will replace the current I-91 bridge over the West River and Route 30. Background information as to how this meeting came about is available here. Approximately 35 residents, local officials, professionals, and interested individuals participated in the meeting. Facilitated by WRC staff, the meeting began with a presentation of the history of the project, the task before the public at the meeting, and a review of design precedents to expose the participants to different types of structures and materials and how they relate to the surrounding context. The meeting participants as a group were then asked about qualities of the current bridge within the context of the surrounding landscape, and the current and desired experience created by the bridge by travelers on Route 30, I-91 and the West River.
WRC Comments on Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Funds Action Plan
Important Update!
The Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development (DEHCD) of the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development has developed a draft action plan that describes the proposed use of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds made available through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
WRC Director Testifies Before Vermont Senate Committee on Economic Development, General and Military Affairs
On March 30th Executive Director Chris Campany provided testimony about decommissioning concerns related to Vermont Yankee, and town planning needs in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, before a community-based hearing of the Vermont Senate Committee on Economic Development, General and Military Affairs.
New West River Watershed Maps Released
WRC has just released a 2 page map of the West River Watershed. The first page is a richly detailed map of the entire watershed, showing every named river, stream, lake, and pond, along with wetlands, roads, buildings, villages and hamlets, public lands, and major recreation areas and trails. The second page introduces the concept of a watershed, and presents information on water quality and special designations of lands and waters in the watershed.
Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS) Efforts Advance
The Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies Group (SeVEDS) is an organization driving the regional economic development dialogue for the Windham Region. SeVEDS, affiliated with the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation, envisions an economy that generates long-term growth and prosperity, improves our quality of life and sustains our quality of place. Members of the SeVEDS Board (Barb Sondag and Bob Stevens) presented the latest findings about the state of the economy of the Windham Region and economic development planning strategies going forward at the February 2012 WRC meeting.
Remembering Melinda Bussino
It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of our Chair, Melinda Bussino, over the weekend. Melinda gave so much of herself to so many, and the Windham Regional Commission counts itself as fortunate to have benefited from her active participation and leadership since she began serving as a Commissioner from Westminster in 1995. During that time she served as Vice Chair for 3 years, and this year was her fifth term as Chair, a position she assumed in 2008. Melinda was a tireless advocate for those in need and the importance of community, and an undeniable force for change. In addition to her work, Melinda shared with everyone an incredibly positive disposition and a beautiful smile. Our thoughts go out to her family for their loss, and we thank them for sharing Melinda with us. She will be missed.
Melinda's viewing will be held on Friday from 4 to 7 pm at Ker Westerlund at 57 High Street in Brattleboro. Please stop in and express your condolences to her family. Her memorial service is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church on Main Street in Brattleboro. It is also open to the public.
The family has asked that donations be given to the Drop In Center in lieu of flowers.
Vermont's Complete Streets Law and What It Means to You
For two years dozens of Vermont organizations, led by AARP Vermont, advocated for a Complete Streets law in Vermont. The Governor signed Vermont’s Complete Streets bill (H.198, Act 34) into law, effective July 1, 2011. What does this mean for you? To some extent the answers are a work in progress.
Irene by the Numbers: Town Road, Bridge, and Culvert Damage in the Windham Region
From the day after Tropical Storm Irene hit Vermont, WRC has worked with towns to gather information about damage to their transportation infrastructure. Though the following figures are only initial estimates—the real numbers will come to light after towns and FEMA have tallied the final damage costs—they offer insight into the magnitude of the storm and its impact on the Region.
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