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SWRPC |
January 2008 |
| Commission Highlights |
Vol. 14 - No. 1 |
Legislative Activity
During January, the NH Association of Regional Planning Commissions (NHARPC) identified several legislative initiatives to be tracked over the 2008 session. Among these, NHARPC has taken positions to "support," "oppose" or to simply "watch" for the time-being, various planning-related bills. Letters have been drafted expressing NHARPC's position on specific bills and, in some cases, NHARPC representatives have testified before legislative committees and worked with bill sponsors and legislative staff. These efforts are conducted with assistance from NHARPC's legislative consultant. For further information, please contact Tim Murphy of Commission staff.
Statewide Grants Conference
Commission staff recently attended the Statewide Grants Conference on January 28th in Concord. The presenters included the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Administration, the General Services Administration, the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the New Hampshire Center for Non Profits, and the Citizen's Bank Foundation. The event was sponsored by Congressman Paul Hodes' office and provided a broad view of the various funding opportunities available in New Hampshire to municipalities as well as the public and private non-profit sectors. For more information, please contact Matthew Suchodolski of Commission staff.
ICLEI - Transportation and Climate Change Project
On January 18th, Planning Commission attended a meeting to initiate Phase II of the ICLEI - Local Government's for Sustainability's Transportation and Climate Project. The goal of the project is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from the transportation sector by decreasing vehicle miles traveled (VMT). To reduce VMT, the project encourages alternative transportation choices to the automobile and encourages land use that will support these modes. The project is being implemented along the Connecticut River/Interstate 91 Corridor in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. Phase I of the project involves working with five participating communities to develop transportation-specific emissions inventories and climate action plans as well as developing recommendations to reduce GHG emissions in the corridor. Phase 2 of the project will focus on developing a vision for interstate rail service and connections on the corridor. For more information, please contact J. B. Mack of Commission staff.
Cool Monadnock Initiative
Cool Monadnock is a region-wide project that brings Southwest New Hampshire to the forefront of climate change action. All 36 municipalities in the Southwest Region are signed on as ICLEI members through SWRPC - this allows each town to have access to certain ICLEI programs and assistance. Work study students managed by the Antioch New England Institute will be performing energy inventories on municipal facilities with the assistance of Public Service of New Hampshire. These inventories will act as a basis for identifying what can be done on the municipal level to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Approximately thirty representatives from local energy committees attended the first Task Force meeting on January 28th. Attendees identified the major challenges facing their committees and then broke into work groups to discuss overcoming such obstacles as apathy, economics (high up-front or hidden costs), how to communicate a positive message, and how to mobilize the community for a common cause. Overall, the biggest concern was how to take advantage of existing momentum within their communities in order to effectively create positive change. These challenges along with specific solutions can be viewed at the project's web site: www.coolmonadnock.org. For more information on Cool Monadnock, please contact Tim Garceau of Commission staff or your local energy committee.
Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy
The Region's Economic Development Advisory Committee met on January 18 for its regular quarterly meeting to discuss benchmarks pertaining to the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for Southwest NH. Steven Epstein, Business Program Specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Administration program briefed the Committee on the services, programs and technical assistance available through his Concord office, particularly the Rural Business Enterprise grant process. James Robb, Business Resource Specialist with the NH Department of Resources and Economic Development gave an overview of his office's activities within the Region as well as a information on efforts along with the Monadnock Economic Development Corporation to facilitate the establishment of two "Community Reinvestment and Opportunity Zones" (CROP Zones) within the City of Keene. Mr. Robb also noted that the CROP Zone designation is now referred to as Economic Revitalization Zones (ERZ or EZ Tax Credit). Five municipalities within the Southwest Region are host to these business incentive zones. For more information, please contact Matthew Suchodolski of Commission staff or visit http://www.nheconomy.com/business-services.
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Southwest Region Planning Commission
20 Central Square, 2nd Floor, Keene, NH 03431
Ph: (603) 357-0557, Fax: (603) 357-7440
General E-mail: admin@swrpc.org
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