SRPC's Monthly Newsletter | |
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Greetings!
The SRPC team has been busy! In this edition we have updates on what our interns have been up to, staff workshops and projects including attendance to the NHDES Drinking Water Source Protection conference and hosting the New Durham Development Committee Community Forum for the Housing and Land Use Master Plan chapter updates. Listed below are planning events of interest, community happenings and much more.
On a sad note, we lost our longest serving Commissioner, Tom Crosby, who passed away in May. Tom served as a Commissioner for over 40 years and is listed as a commissioner in SRPC’s first Newsletter in 1983. He served as Treasurer for many years. Tom was a respected and admired mentor to his fellow commissioners. Staff always enjoyed his visits into the office and his genuine interest in what we were doing both professionally and in our lives outside of the office. His kindness, dedication, and contribution to the region will forever be remembered.
Megan Taylor-Fetter
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In this Issue
Staff News
Partner Spotlight
Planning Events of Interest
Grant Corner
New Planning Resources
Public Input Opportunities
Community Happenings
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The Strafford Regional Planning Commission is holding its Annual Meeting on June 27th from 11am to 2pm. The theme of the meeting is “Local Solutions: A Ten-Year Retrospective” where we will look at how we've grown, changed, and implemented our comprehensive plan, adopted almost 10 years ago.
The event will be held at the lovely Three Chimney’s Inn in Durham and has a cost of $40, which includes a buffet lunch. Everyone is welcome to attend, including community members, commissioners, and municipal stakeholders!
To register and find more information, including a list of our guest speakers, visit here.
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Nadege Masumbuko completed her Environmental Planning Internship with SRPC at the end of May. She was a great help with master plan projects where she helped with outreach through surveys, workshops, and compiling all of the feedback from members of the communities.
GIS Intern Brian Notinger is continuing his internship with SRPC as our Data Collection Intern for the summer. As Data Collection Intern, Brian will be out in the field setting traffic counts and collecting other data. While in the office, Brian will continue his work on updating the Land Use data. This data is typically updated every five years, but collecting aerial imagery was delayed in 2020 due to Covid-19, making the usual 5-year wait for data nearly 7 years. As of this week, Brian has only 4 towns left to update.
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NHDES Drinking Water Source Protection Conference
SRPC Senior Regional Planner, Lisa Murphy recently attended the 2024 NHDES Drinking Water Source Protection conference. The conference is an annual event that provides an information exchange opportunity for water supply professionals and City and Town officials for planning and delivery of safe drinking water. The City of Rochester was given the Source Protection Award for their efforts to conserve nearly 600 acres of high-quality water supply lands over the last four years. Nice work Rochester!
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Housing Matters Call
On May 31st, Housing Navigator Courtney Grugnale presented at a Housing Matters call with Housing Action NH. Where she discussed her work in the towns of Farmington and New Durham. This presentation touched on community engagement, housing progress and ongoing projects.
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Pictured: SRPC's Courtney Grugnale and guests of the forum
New Durham Community Forum
On Saturday, June 1, SRPC staff Blair Haney, Courtney Grugnale, and Mark Davie helped the New Durham Development Committee run its community forum for the Housing and Land Use Master Plan chapter updates occurring this summer. The trio facilitated a community discussion session for 30 residents as well as five activities: a mapping exercise, a visual preference activity, a recreation discussion, a zoning discussion, and a short-term rental "ballot box." SRPC staff are looking forward to working with the town’s Planning Board and Development Committee to take this feedback and data to work toward draft chapters to be presented at a hearing. The date, time, and materials for public comment will be made available as soon as they are prepared. Many thanks to New Durham’s passionate volunteers and staff for their hard work.
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Other Planning Events of Interest
June 10, 2024, 5:00PM-6:30PM: Commute Smart B2B Challenge Awards Celebration at the Loaded Questions Brewing Company in Portsmouth. Results of the Spring Statewide Challenge can be found here.
June 11, 2024, 8:30AM-10:30AM, Ashworth Hotel, Hampton, NH: Coastal Resilience: Navigating Housing and Flooding Challenges. Our coastal communities face unique challenges as they balance our region's housing shortage with increased flooding and displacement risks. Join the Workforce Housing Coalition of the Greater Seacoast as we convene regional and local leaders for a discussion on the policies that the City of Portland (ME) adopted and what's being done right here in New Hampshire. Register here.
June 13, 2024, 2:30-7:00PM: Adapting Together Workshops. New Hampshire is changing. Increased flooding, drought, heat waves, damaged road networks, and extreme storms are more commonplace. In this time of change, you can inform Adapting Together, a community-guided funding program intended to help all residents of the Great Bay Watershed adapt and thrive. Attend an Adapting Together Workshop this spring and put your experience and knowledge to work in ways that will benefit your community. For more information and to register, visit: https://prepestuaries.org/adapting-together/.
June 14, 2024, 9:30AM-5:00PM, Keene State College, Keene, NH: NHPA Spring Conference. Join NHPA for a full day of professional development.
June 18, 2024, 5:30PM-7:30PM, In person the Barkers Farm, Stratham: Preparing your Land for Extreme Weather. Visit the UNH Extension website for more information.
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Registration is now open for CAW members and Climate Summit speakers today! We encourage you to register before Monday, June 10, when registration will open to the public. Space is limited at this year’s event, and we expect to reach our registration cap. Click here to register. | |
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Town of Middleton, NH
PRESS RELEASE
2024 Watershed Assistance Section 319 Grant
Working in partnership with Strafford Regional Planning, the Sunrise Lake Watershed Advisory Committee (on behalf of the Town of Middleton) submitted a proposal for the 2024 Watershed Assistance Grant.
The Committee is pleased to announce that the grant has been awarded. This grant will provide resources to reduce pollutants entering the lake and improve its quality. The grant is now waiting for final processing through the DES and Governor & Executive Council, with funding and final go-ahead expected late summer.
In brief, the proposal outlined the following improvements:
- Culvert Replacement on Lake Shore Road-the proposed project is a complete redesign of the system and will help prevent further erosion of sand and gravel into the lake.
- Repair of damaged drainage infrastructure Lake Lands Beach-the proposed project will help address ongoing erosion issues at the beach area.
- Construction of a rain garden at Hampshire Shores- the proposed project will collect stormwater runoff from Shore Drive and minimize flow into the beach and the lake.
- Stormwater Drainage Study-the proposed project involves the study of stormwater draining into Sunrise Lake as a whole, which would involve identification of non-point pollutants, and offer solutions to reduce these pollutants into the lake.
This grant does not impact taxes, completion of these projects combine federal grant funding with “in kind” contributions in the form of volunteer labor and equipment during the implementation of these projects, as well as in-kind contributions from the SLWAC VLAP, and other volunteers through overall guidance throughout the projects.
SLWAC Chairman John Mullen noted “this is a significant milestone in implementing the Sunrise Lake Watershed Management Plan and is the result of the accumulated efforts of Strafford Regional Planning, town officials, boards and residents.”
For further information contact sunriselakewac@gmail.com
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June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. UNH’s Office of Community, Equity and Diversity offers a list of related activities scheduled around NH for the coming month. Click HERE for a list of events. | |
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Strafford Regional Planning Commission
150 Wakefield Street, Suite 12
Rochester, NH 03867
www.strafford.org
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