Executive Director Jen Czysz presents to the NH Children's Foundation Board of Directors. (
SRPC Photo)
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Planning
On Monday, Sept. 23, Jen Czysz, executive director, Nancy O'Connor, program content coordinator, and Jackson Rand, GIS planner, presented to the NH Children's Health Foundation (NHCHF) Board of Directors. As explained on its website, "The New Hampshire Children's Health Foundation is a leading funder for children's health in the state. They distribute $750,000 or more each year to community health centers, health policy organizations and community-based organizations to deliver on our mission and strategic priorities." In 2018 SRPC was awarded a $30,000 grant from the NHCHF to implement a project supporting prevention of childhood obesity, promotion of oral health, and reduction food insecurity.
SRPC's Pathways to Play program is being run with the grant funding, and the meeting on Monday allowed SRPC staffers the opportunity to share progress to date with NHCHF board members. The presentation covered SRPC staffers work on the two phases of the project. Phase 1 included mapping recreation opportunities in all eighteen regional communities, the process of fact checking the data with each community and will culminate with finalized recreation maps for each municipality. Phase II, which is also underway, includes a pilot project in Somersworth to look at the City's recreation, and opportunities for improvement. This has included an extensive outreach campaign and will culminate with a plan for the City.
The Pathways to Play project will run through December 2019.
Pieces of Interest
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Transportation
On Wednesday, Sept. 25, Jen Czysz, executive director and Colin Lentz, senior transportation planner, attended the COAST Annual Meeting at the Governor's Inn in Rochester. The primary topic of discussion at this year's meeting was the future of funding sustainability for public transit. The presentation on the topic was facilitated by Rad Nichols, COAST executive director, and included an interactive discussion among board members representing the communities serviced by coast, NH Department of Transportation (NHDOT) Commissioner Victoria Sheehan, and representatives of Congressman Chris Pappas and Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
Commissioner Sheehan spoke about NHDOT’s recent approval of 3.6 million of Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) funding through 2023. Combined with funding from the Federal Transit Administration, COAST is much closer to implementing a new route network that will provide better service to riders and be less expensive to operate. This will still require significant local match but Rad Nichols is confident about the future. Since the CMAQ funds will only support COAST through 2023, Rad and Commissioner Sheehan spoke about the value of public transit and the ongoing collaboration and engagement that will be needed to build long-term funding sustainability for public transit in New Hampshire.
Pieces of Interest
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Economic Development
Strafford Regional Planning Commission held its quarterly Commission meeting on Thursday, Sept. 26. During the meeting James Burdin, senior regional planner, presented on the Strafford Economic Development District (EDD) Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). The CEDS, or the economic development plan for the region, was originally written in 2011, and will see its first major update beginning this year. Annual updates were completed in 2013, 2016, and 2017. The inconsistency in annual reporting was due to lapses in funding.
Strafford EDD staffers will be seeking input during the process of re-writing the comprehensive plan. The timeline, as James presented, includes a survey and initial outreach in October and November, focus workgroups and analysis in February and March, drafting and feedback from the Commission in March through June, and final adoption at the SRPC Annual Meeting.
Pieces of Interest
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