The Citywide Resilience Plan was officially adopted by the Dover City Council during its Feb. 8 meeting. The Dover Planning Board had previously provided a unanimous endorsement for the Resilience Plan on Jan. 24.

To view the Resilience Plan, click here.

Resilience Manager, Dr. Jackson Kaspari, spoke to City Council on Feb. 8 about the core purpose of the Citywide Resilience Plan, which is to publicly establish a work plan for the City to equitably increase its resiliency, in fiscally responsible ways, across a variety of categories, including public outreach, energy, food systems and ecosystem management.

Dr. Kaspari explained that the Resilience Plan was prepared over 16 months with input from varying public bodies, city staff, and community members. The Resilience Plan also places emphasis on items pertaining to the City Council Goals, as adopted in April 2022, that were developed "to move the City’s vision forward."

The Citywide Resilience Plan, similar to the chapters of the City's Master Plan, has an implementation table for the projects and goals outlined. A trackable version of the implementation table will be maintained by the Department of Planning and Community Development.

Click here to watch the City Council meeting.

The Transportation Advisory Commission held a special meeting on Monday, Feb. 13, for a public presentation on the Downtown Pedestrian and Vehicular Access Improvements Project.

The presentation can be viewed here.

In the presentation, project manager Mark Debowski of Greenman-Pederson, Inc., the contracted design consultant, gave an overview of preliminary design plans Greenman-Pederson created based on the 2015 Downtown Pedestrian and Vehicular Access and Streetscape Study. These designs and the 2015 report are available on the project page.

Debowski discussed current conditions in the Central Business District, the recommendation from the 2015 study to change the traffic flow on Central Avenue and Main Street, and why that change would be advantageous to pedestrians, motorists and downtown businesses.

After the presentation, the public viewed the preliminary design plans at stations in the City Hall auditorium, asking questions to project team members and providing feedback. The city and design consultant will select the preferred design option based on public feedback and begin creating final design plans.

A second public meeting will be planned for spring/summer 2023 to review the revised plans before final construction bid documents are completed, expected by December 2023.

The city will provide email updates as the project develops. To sign up for these emails, visit https://bit.ly/dovernewsletters and add “Project update: Downtown Pedestrian and Vehicular Access Improvements” to your current email subscription list.

The Dover Open Lands Committee invites you to a Full Moon Snowshoe/Hike on Saturday, March 4, at 6:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

Attendees will gather at the Beckwith Ballfields parking lot on Hillside Drive, off Sixth Street. From there, the group will take a leisurely walk through the Cassily Conservation Area. Hot cocoa and snacks will be provided. As conditions may change, the Committee encourages attendees to monitor the weather to determine appropriate footwear/clothing.

For any questions, please message the Open Lands Committee on Facebook or email Jackson Kaspari at J.Kaspari@dover.nh.gov.

In addition to each week's email edition of Dover Download, the City of Dover offers a weekly podcast. The podcast is hosted by Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker, who chats each week about the city's programs, services, public bodies, and projects. Each episode also takes a brief detour to the past with a look back at the week in Dover's history.

In this episode of Dover Download, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Erin Bassegio, the Planning Department's Outreach Coordinator, and Planning Director Donna Benton about the ongoing work to update the Vision Chapter of the City's Master Plan. The Vision Chapter aims to capture the long-term view of the City by residents and stakeholders.

In This Week in Dover History, we look back at the work of a Dover woman whose tireless efforts helped pave the way for women to vote. It was this week in 1910 that she declared her candidacy for governor.

The podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and at https://anchor.fm/cityofdovernh.

Distinctly Dover, the Master Plan's Vision Chapter update project, held a Virtual Visioning Session on Thursday, Feb. 9. The interactive event included guided prompts in which participants could provide their thoughts and ideas for the future of Dover. Participants were asked what they feel are the challenges that Dover faces, the strengths of the city, and what they would like to see in the future. This input is critical to guide the Vision Chapter update.

The Virtual Visioning Session can be viewed here.

If you were unable to attend the Virtual Visioning Session, please email Erin Bassegio at e.bassegio@dover.nh.gov to arrange a Vision on the Go session at your upcoming event or community gathering. A Vision Ambassador can facilitate a visioning exercise with your group to ensure your input is included in the Vision Chapter update.

If you have questions about the Vision Chapter or how to get involved with the update, please email e.bassegio@dover.nh.gov. Project information will be found here in the Planning Review and posted on the dedicated project webpage.