 |
SWRPC |
October 2008 |
| Commission Highlights |
Vol. 14 - No. 9 |
2008 Fall Commission Meeting
The Planning Commission's 2008 Fall Meeting is scheduled for November 18th at The Inn at East Hill Farm in Troy, NH. Pre-registration is required. The program includes a social at 6:00 p.m. with dinner served at 7:00. Our featured guest speaker is George N. Campbell, Jr., Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Transportation. For additional information or to register, please contact Becky Baldwin of Commission staff.
LCHIP Grant Round Opening Soon
The NH Land & Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) has announced that its upcoming grant round will open on December 1st. LCHIP is a State authority that provides matching grants to towns and non-profits to assist in protecting and preserving our most important natural, cultural and historic resources. Items of importance to towns thinking to participate in the upcoming grant round include 1) to be eligible, projects must first be entered into LCHIP's registry - to do so, visit the website at www.lchip.org and complete the simple LCH registry form; and 2) a mandatory application writing workshop is scheduled for December 9th - applicants for the upcoming grant round must attend this workshop. For more information, please contact Tim Murphy of Commission staff or Cheryl Carlson of LCHIP at 224-4113.
2008 Northeast Traffic Monitoring Data Conference
During October, Planning Commission staff participated in the 2008 Northeast Traffic Monitoring Data Conference held in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Attendees included planners, field technicians, data analysts, and DOT officials from Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. Discussions were focused on 'Meeting Changing Requirements with Reduced Resources' within the traffic research sector by covering a wide array of issues relating to equipment, safety, data collection and new federal requirements. Forum discussions encouraged individuals from different states to collaborate, exchange and create new strategies in addressing each of these issues. For more information, please contact Neel Patel of Commission staff.
Annual Fall Planning & Zoning Conference
Planning Commission staff attended the Annual Fall Planning and Zoning Conference on Saturday, October 25, 2008. This year's conference was co-sponsored by the NH Association of Regional Planning Commissions and the NH Office of Energy and Planning. The day long conference was held at Loon Mountain in Lincoln, NH. Several of the sessions focused on the recently released Innovative Land Use Guide, and included topics such as water resource management, density transfer credits and conservation subdivisions. Other sessions included basics for planning and zoning board members, workforce housing and agricultural preservation. For more information, please contact Lisa Murphy of Commission staff.
Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce Map Updated
The Planning Commission marked a decade of using its Geographic Information System (GIS) to maintain and update the Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce's "Maps of Keene and Cheshire County, NH". This project employed a state-of-the-art methodology that has since become the normal order of operation for high-end cartographic product development in the GIS community. Not only did using this process yield an attractive map product - it also resulted in a cost savings for the Chamber. The map is distributed by the Chamber as well as local real estate agencies and businesses as a way for tourists and people relocating to the area to find their way around and promote local business. For more information, please contact Michael Blair of Commission staff.
2008 Tri-State Transit Conference
Planning Commission staff attended the 2008 Tri-State Transit Conference in North Conway, NH from October 29th to 31st. The Conference convenes transportation planners and transit operators from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to learn from each other and national leaders about the best transit practices. Topics covered in the conference included everything from ideas shaping the federal transportation reauthorization bill, to generational marketing of transit services and the latest in alternative fuels for transit vehicles. Information shared and contacts made at the conference will assist staff in our transit related planning activities. For more information, please contact J. B. Mack of Commission staff.
Business Leaders Breakfast - Affordable Housing
Heading for Home, the Region's housing coalition is sponsoring a Business Leaders Breakfast on Friday, December 12, 2008 from 7:00 - 9:00 a.m. at Antioch University New England in Keene. The event is entitled "Business Advocacy in the Community" and will feature Ben Frost, Director of Public Affairs for the NH Housing Finance Authority. Mr. Frost will discuss ways that businesses can have a positive impact on affordable housing. To register for this event, please contact Susan Thielen at 352-1449 (susyt@headingforhome.org).
|
|
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
|
Check out the