Upcoming Grant Opportunities

Get Ready for the Release of ACT 172 - Details in the New Year

State Agencies Announce Better Connections Grant Funding Opportunities for Towns

Think Big, Let's Talk

WRC Continues Work on WRP Update

WRC Welcomes New Planner

WRC Assists Towns with MPG & BMG Applications

Health Equity & Community Design Technical Assistance Pilot

Flood Resilient Communities Fund

Trails and our Downtowns and Village Centers

Windham Region Seniors' Health Collaborative

Transportation Grants in the Windham Region

Inter-Organization Collaborations to Solve Stormwater Issues

USDA Rural Development 

For additional information about grant possibilities for your projects please contact Susan Westa.

Regional Planning Commissions have been working with Vermont Building and Grounds to roll out the Act 172, Municipal Fuel Switching and Weatherization program. There are still details to iron out before the official release of the program details, but we anticipate that they will be coming soon in the new year. WRC Staff members Margo Ghia and Mike McConnell will be heading up this program in the WRC office and will be the primary contacts for Towns. Look for our communications starting in mid-January. We look forward to working with all of our municipalities on this unprecedented energy/weatherization opportunity.

You can start preparing today by getting a list together of all the municipal buildings in your community and list their addresses. We will be sending out a survey in January where that information will be asked for.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation and the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development have announced that the Better Connections grant program is now open to applications from municipalities. The program grants approximately $270,000 bi-annually in planning funds to help towns build more livable, walkable, and welcoming communities. Specifically, the program can assist towns with planning efforts to increase multi-modal transportation options, improve land use, water quality and public health, and support economic vitality.

A pre-application form and interview are required by January 30, 2023. Grant applications are due by February 17, 2023.

To learn more about this funding opportunity, please visit the Better Connections webpage.

Does your town have any larger scale projects in mind, or maybe even on the back burner, that relate to hazard mitigation, flood resilience or water quality? If so, please reach out to us so that together we can discuss the potential of applying for funding to support turning good ideas into reality. There is an unprecedented amount of funding available right now and there are limited allocation and spending windows. WRC is a resource for project management services for towns to support large scale projects. One example of this in action is the Town of Dover who is using the Flood Resilient Communities Fund to partner with Mount Snow in the design and permitting for the removal of the Snow Lake dam to restore the stream channel and recreate floodplain access. This project will benefit water quality and reduce flood hazards downstream. WRC is providing project management support for this large-scale project. We encourage your town to also think big and reach out to WRC for guidance in taking advantage of current funding availabilities.

Contact Alyssa Sabetto for more details.

In spring 2022, the Windham Regional Commission initiated an update to the 2014 Windham Regional Plan. In November, staff met with WRC Committees and presented data on demographic and economic conditions in the region. In the upcoming months, staff and WRC Committees will be working collaboratively to revise sections and policies in the current plan to respond to changes in the region since the last update in 2014 and to better plan for our future. Draft sections of the plan will be reviewed at Committee meetings, which are always open to the public and information on meeting times and agendas can be reviewed on WRC’s website.

As part of the update process, the Regional Plan is being redesigned to be entirely web-based. WRC has hired Edgeworks Creative, based in Waterbury, VT, to design and develop the new website for the Regional Plan. WRC staff has been working with Edgeworks Creative over the last few months to design the overall site, page templates, and navigation. Edgeworks Creative will be presenting an update on the project at the WRC Planning Coordination Committee meeting on January 4^th at 6:30 p.m. If you have any questions about the Regional Plan update, please contact Senior Planner, Matt Bachler, at 802-257-4547, ext. 112. 

Executive Director

Associate Director

Office Manager

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Senior Planner

Regional Transportation Planner

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Planner

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Senior Planner

Senior Planner

Hello! My name is Mike McConnell, a new Senior Planner with the WRC. I began in earnest on December 12, 2022 after previous stops in Colorado Springs, CO, Benton County AR and most recently Helena, Montana. My primary tasks in those locations were site plan, subdivision and annexation review, specialized reviews in hillside development projects, and all manner of comprehensive planning projects. Fairly typical for a municipal planner. I hope that this next challenge with the WRC is as rewarding for our member towns as it will be for me.

This is a bit of a homecoming for me as I grew up in Greenfield, MA. I am excited to be back in the area with my wife Sara and daughters Remie (pictured above) and Sophia doing what I love. In my free time I will be playing hockey, skiing and/or any other outdoor activity I can think of. We are currently living in Bernardston, MA but hope to move to southern Vermont in the near future. I am always open to new challenges and ideas so do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss your town. We will learn and grow together!

This past fall, WRC staff assisted the towns of Weston, Winhall, and Dover to submit Municipal Planning Grant applications with the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). All three towns submitted applications to complete comprehensive updates to their Town Plans. WRC staff also supported the towns of Newfane and Rockingham to submit Bylaw Modernization Grant applications with DHCD to review and update their zoning bylaws to encourage additional housing opportunities. Grant awards are expected to be announced in January 2023.

The Municipal Plannng Grant program was created in 1998 and supports planning and revitalization efforts for local municipalities. Examples of projects include streetscape and village center master planning, water system studies, and town plan updates. The Bylaw Modernization Grant is a new DHCD funding program specifically for zoning bylaw updates that support greater housing choice and pedestrian-oriented development patterns.

WRC staff is available to meet with towns to identify eligible projects for the Municipal Planning Grant and Bylaw Modernization Grant programs, develop project budgets, and review draft applications. If you have additional questions about these programs please contact Associate Director, Susan Westa, at swesta@windhamregional.org or 802-257-4547, ext. 108.

The Vermont Department of Health and the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development recently launches a technical assistance (TA) pilot to support community-led design, placemaking, and health equity projects. The TA Pilot will provide extra capacity and resources for communities to develop healthy community design and placemaking plans and projects that center on equity. Funding is open to municipalities, non-profit organizations, and local volunteer groups. The program will be able to support approximately 20 to 35 communities for in-person and virtual engagement sessions between December 2022 ad October 2023. To learn more, visit the Healthy Communities Vermont website.

Millions of dollars are still available for Vermont communities to reduce future impacts from floods and other natural disasters. Funding is available under two grant programs outlined below for communities that qualify.

Funding is still available under the Flood Resilient Communities Fund – applications will be accepted on a rolling basis as funding allows. Eligible projects include flood-vulnerable property buyouts outside of the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA); buyouts of vacant, at-risk properties; floodplain restoration projects; and buffer plantings. Prior flooding is not a requirement to participate in this program. To see the full program overview, click here.

Additional funding is available under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), disaster round DR-4621, with a State deadline of Friday, February 3, 2023. This funding pot has a 90% federal share and only requires a 10% local match. The best use of this funding is for project implementation, including property buyouts in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) and infrastructure projects, such as upsizing culverts and bridges. Prior flooding is also not required for property buyouts under this program. For more information click here.

Reach out to Alyssa or directly to Vermont Emergency Management via DPS.HazardMitigation@vermont.gov.

Vermont’s primary planning goal is to maintain the traditional pattern of compact village and urban centers surrounded by rural countryside. Using trails to connect these two places—our downtowns and village centers, and the natural spaces that surround them—is a great way to offer people access to the valuable assets both places have to offer.

When we talk about trails, we can place them into two broad categories. One category would be the traditional hiking trail, or footpath, or even singletrack trail for mountain biking. The other category would be multi-use pathways, or improved surface trails—think rail trails, or graded or paved walking paths.

Connecting these trails to our region’s downtowns and village centers does two things. It provides residents and visitors easy access to natural spaces and outdoor recreation, and it brings trail users into our communities, where they can access amenities (food, supplies, water, bathrooms, lodging) and patronize local businesses. In some cases, these connections can do a third thing too. They can provide an alternate way of moving from one place to another, an activity that is referred to as “active transportation.”

In every corner of our region—from Readsboro to Bellows Falls, from Brattleboro to South Londonderry—trails are close to, or even in, our population centers. More work can be done, however, to make these trails more accessible to our residents and visitors.

Improvements to the trails themselves, including efforts to make them more accessible to people with mobility issues, greatly benefits all sectors of the population. Yes, some of us need challenging trails in rugged terrain to get our heart rate up. But there’s also a need for easier walking paths, whether it be for those who can’t handle a more difficult trail, or for those who simply want to take a casual stroll, maybe before or after dinner at a local restaurant. Trail improvements can be expensive. Luckily, we’re at a time when awareness of the benefits of trails, and funding opportunities for their development and improvement are at an all-time high, especially.

Want to do something cheaper? Improvements to wayfinding—information in the form of signs and maps that make people aware of the trails and help them find their way around—is one of the biggest bangs for your buck when it comes to trails. In almost every case, there is room for improvement in a trail’s wayfinding system.

Even cheaper? Engage residents and local businesses. Educate them on local trail opportunities. Find out what types of trail amenities they would like. Think about what resources business owners might need to better serve their customers.

Let’s make the connection! Thinking about trails AND our downtowns and village centers will have lasting benefits for our residents and visitors with respect to the recreation, health, community development, and the economy.

For more information:

The Windham Region Seniors’ Health Collaborative is a grassroots effort that grew out of the concerns of local health care professionals and administrators. The group’s leaders, Roger Albee, Dr. Carolyn Taylor Olson, and Dr. David Neumeister, were concerned about the future of seniors in the region as we continue to age. The chart below shows how quickly the Windham Region is aging.

The Collaborative is concerned about health care services, healthy lifestyles and communities. They are working to develop a plan for the future of the region as it grows older.

The Collaborative is committed to creating positive change and has articulated the following vision:

The first step was to gather data to make the case for a plan. The Collaborative hired the Windham Regional Commission to develop a Phase I Data Report. The Windham Region Aging Report looks at demographics, including population trends, socioeconomic data, and housing and transportation trends. The report also looks at preventative health and chronic diseases, as well as health care trends.

The question remains: How will Windham County prepare for the coming changes? As the Collaborative moves into the next phase of the project, plan development, they will consider the implications of this data and incorporate new data as it becomes available especially future projections for 2035. Stay tuned for additional information and opportunities to participate in this important effort in the future.

In the past few months, the Windham Regional Commission has been working with many of our towns to apply for grant funding to address various transportation infrastructure needs. There are many State and Federal grant funding opportunities available to municipalities that can provide transportation funding for projects that range from solutions to erosion and flooding problems, funding for new salt and sand sheds to improvements in infrastructure for bicyclists and pedestrians. The WRC is available to work with towns to identify what the most pressing needs and priorities are, and which grant funding opportunities are the best fit to address them, as well help navigate the grant application process.

The WRC has helped towns apply for a wide range of programs, including a Federal Lands Access Program grant for Stratton, VTrans Better Roads Grants for Windham, Halifax and Wilmington, VTrans Municipal Highway and Stormwater Mitigation grants for Windham and Wardsboro as well as VTrans Transportation Alternatives Grants for Athens and Rockingham. The scope of these projects covers a wide range of much needed infrastructure.

Windham’s salt and sand shed was aging, and significant structural deficiencies were identified in an engineering report commissioned by the town. Its small size forces salt and sand to be delivered outside and then manually shoveled into the garage creating extra work for the Road Crew and allowing harmful materials to seep into Turkey Mountain Brook. The WRC worked with the Windham Selectboard and Road Foreman to develop an application to the VTrans Municipal Highway and Stormwater Mitigation program for funding to replace the existing salt shed. The WRC and the town of Windham brought in VTrans District 2 and the Agency of Natural Resources to provide their expertise and support the application. The WRC also provided grant writing support and maps for the town. This project was selected by VTrans for the Municipal Mitigation program and state funding will be allocated to Windham to help replace the existing salt shed.

In 2019 Stratton began plowing Grout Pond Road throughout the winter to help accommodate a landowner that was logging a parcel of privately owned land within the National Forest. One of the Windham Region’s most popular recreation destinations, the town saw a significant increase in winter use once the road was being maintained year-round. Grout pond is one of the snowiest locations in Southern Vermont, receiving more than 150 inches of snow on average annually. Increased use of Grout Pond during the winter season combined with large amounts of snowfall and the physical limitations of the roadway posed increasing winter maintenance and emergency management challenges for Stratton.

The town, working together with the WRC, VTrans District 1 and the Southern Division of the Green Mountain National Forest, submitted a grant application to the Federal Lands Access Program. The Flap grants are a federal program administered by the state of Vermont that provides funding to towns to improve town owned assets that facilitate access to National Forest lands. If funded, this application will allow Stratton to make improvements to Grout Pond Road that widen the roadway for two cars to be able to pass during all seasons, improve drainage and stormwater management, created dedicated year-round parking that does not interfere with the roadway and allow emergency vehicles access to Grout Pond year-round.

The WRC staff are available to help your town navigate the State and Federal grant application process to address a variety of infrastructure needs in your community. If your town has pressing infrastructure needs or an idea for a transportation infrastructure project that might be eligible for funding, please reach out to Windham Regional Commission Transportation Planner, Colin Bratton at cbratton@windhamregional.org, or 802-257-4547 ext. 109.

The Town of Rockingham contacted Windham Regional Commission a while ago about a stormwater runoff problem that was causing a significant amount of damage to a local business. The business was concerned that if the stormwater runoff continued to cause erosion in a nearby gully, they would lose some significant infrastructure on their property. The problem was complicated and that is when Rockingham called WRC. Knowing that WRC works with stormwater and water quality issues, they were hoping that we might be able to assist in getting conversations going about how to address the stormwater runoff and the subsequent gully erosion that was happening.

Windham Regional and Rockingham pulled together potential partners and interested stakeholders to do a site visit. This visit highlighted what a complex and serious issue the problem was. We started to assemble a bigger team to begin collaborative discussions on how to both identify the scope of the issue and ways to begin addressing it.

To date, partners in this collaborative effort include Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation,The Town of Rockingham, WRC, Vermont DEC (watershed planner and stormwater specialists), VTrans (both the rail and road divisions), private business representatives from over four different companies, and hired consultants. The team is working on getting final designs for gully restoration, private business are addressing some stormwater issues on their properties, Vtrans has fixed some drainage issues off of one of their roads, and preliminary designs have been created for stormwater strategies to slow and reduce the amount of water coming into the gully to begin with.

Through Tactical Basin Funding that Vermont DEC has provided to Windham Regional, WRC has been able to assist the Town of Rockingham and begin the conversations around this significant problem. Through this endeavor, WRC and the Town of Rockingham have also secured funding for several of the projects and will continue to work together until the stormwater issues are resolved.