Bits and Pieces: A Weekly Update from the Strafford Region

BITS AND PIECES

A Weekly Update from the Strafford Region

Attendees at the Great Bay Living Shorelines workshop. (SRPC photo)

PLANNING

On Friday, April 8, various partners involved in the Great Bay Living Shorelines project presented their third and final workshop in a hybrid format, with in-person attendance at the NHDES Coastal Program office. Principal regional planner Kyle Pimental assisted in the facilitation of the event, which was also attended by regional planner Autumn Scott.

This two-part workshop encouraged interested parties to attend the morning session, where presentations included topics like:

An introduction to Living Shorelines for Great Bay
Designing Living Shorelines
Permitting Considerations
Suggested Designs for four Great Bay sites

The latter part of the workshop allowed project partners to discuss next steps for design products, offer final project feedback via small group discussions, and reflect on the overall Great Bay Living Shoreline project in small groups.

STAFF CONTACT

Kyle Pimental

PIECES OF INTEREST

New Hampshire CoastWise Now Accepting Applications!

NHPA Spring Conference Save the Date

TRANSPORTATION

Senior transportation planner Colin Lentz presented to the Seacoast Economic Development Stakeholders (SEDR) group on Tuesday, Apr. 5. Touching on one of the important themes in the 2022 CEDS update, transportation, Colin gave a high level overview of what a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) does.

He also covered the importance of Strafford MPO in completing its Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP), and the process of advocating for local projects to eventually be include in the statewide Ten Year Plan (TYP) and subsequent Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

Senior transportation planner Scott Bogle complimented Colin's presentation, speaking about the importance of transportation on economic development and highlighting the NH Seacoast Greenway project.

The group also discussed EV charging, considering the $17 million the state will receive through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funds to expand the state’s electric vehicle (EV) charging network over the next 5 years.

STAFF CONTACT

Colin Lentz

PIECES OF INTEREST

National Scenic Byways Grants Program: Application and

Letter of Intent Deadline extended by FHWA

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Staff are continuing to provide municipal record digitization services through SRPC's EDA CARES programming. With the assistance from a team of record digitization interns, SRPC has digitized files in Rochester, Somersworth, Dover, and Newmarket. This week, staff were setup at Durham's Town Hall to scan historical tax cards.

This service is being offered at no charge to member communities and will continue throughout the summer.

STAFF CONTACT

Natalie Moles

PIECES OF INTEREST

Registration Open for Resiliency Academy for Small Business and Communities

Strafford Regional Planning Commission | 603-994-3500 | srpc@strafford.org| www.strafford.org

April 8, 2022