Lisa Wise, NH Sea Grant, jots down notes during the Dover Rising Waters Committee meeting ( SRPC Photo )
Planning
Kyle Pimental, principal regional planner, attended a meeting of the Dover Rising Waters Committee on Thursday, Nov. 8. The main discussion focused on involving Dover Listens in the committee’s work engaging citizens and visitors in discussions of climate change and its effects.

Dover Rising Waters has already held a youth art contest to promote a public discussion of climate change’s potential impacts on the city. It was won by 13-year-old Sofia Self, who entered a design that depicts the City of Dover underwater to represent rising sea level and its effect on Dover along the Cochecho River. The artwork will soon be installed in Dover.

Stay tuned for more about the Dover Rising Waters project on SRPC's website . Speak out about the project using #DoverRisingWaters.

Pieces of Interest

Transportation
Strafford Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) staffers were joined by colleagues from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and the NH Department of Transportation on Monday, Nov. 5, for the MPO Certification Review. This all-day review is conducted every three to four years to ensure Strafford MPO is complying with federal requirements and following through with recommended planning efforts.
 
Topics included metropolitan planning documents and processes, public involvement and   Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and new performance based planning requirements. Staffers answered questions directly and shared information on the MPO’s processes. FHWA and FTA commended Strafford MPO on its programs and helped the organization understand where improvements could be made.

The results of the review will be documented in a report by the FHWA that summarizes the reviewers’ findings, issues facing the region, corrective actions (if any) that Strafford MPO should take, and recommendations or other pertinent information.
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Economic Development
The Strafford Economic Development District (EDD) hosted its first brown bag lunch for economic development stakeholders on Thursday, Nov. 1. These informal meetings, which are an expansion of those previously held in Durham, give the EDD staff and appointed and elected officials an opportunity to discuss economic development in the region. They are also a chance for participants to share important news from their communities, ask questions, and learn from each other.
 
Economic development staffers from Dover, Rochester, and Durham shared strategies for connecting career and technical education centers to industry, and they discussed downtown revitalization on main streets. The group also talked about strategies for engaging manufacturers.
 
Strafford EDD plans to hold these meeting every month; the next one is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 6, from noon to 1 p.m. in conference room 1A of the SRPC office.
 
For more information, or to RSVP for the next meeting, contact James Burdin, regional economic development planner, at jburdin@strafford.org or at 603-994-3500. 

Pieces of Interest


Strafford Regional Planning Commission | 603-994-3500 | srpc@strafford.org | www.strafford.org
November 9, 2018