The riverside trails at Wagon Hill Farm. (Photo courtesy of the Town of Durham/NHDES)
Planning

SRPC held its first commission meeting of the fiscal year on Thursday, Sept. 24. Following normal business items, the meeting featured a presentation by GIS planner Jackson Rand on SRPC’s updated mapping platform on ArcGIS Online.  He reviewed the types of maps and data available online and for download, and explained how to toggle data layers and create custom maps in a matter of minutes.  

The meeting closed out with updates from Commissioners involved on two new subcommittees, the Resiliency Committee, and the Recycling Roundtable. These subcommittees were created following discussion at prior Commission meetings and are being run by Commissioners engaged and passionate on the topics of resiliency and recycling. They are also interested in exploring these topics through a regional lens and approaching solutions in that manner. 

Due to time constraints Jackson’s second half of his presentation was postponed, and he was unable to lead Commissioners in an exercise to create a customized map for their respective communities. In response, staff are now planning to provide this tutorial to Commissioners and others who may be interested, like municipal board volunteers. If you are interested sign up for our event specific email list here, and we will share the details once they are finalized.  

Pieces of Interest


Transportation
During the week of Sept. 21 data collection staff set counts in Barrington, Dover and Durham. With the data collected this week, the season total rises to 109, with four counts left to be set.  The total 113 counts were set across the SRPC region, and data was collected in 15 of SRPC’s 18 communities.  

In addition to these NHDOT required counts, Strafford Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) staff set 23 supplemental counts, executed two turning movement counts, and have one additional speed count to set to close out the 2020 season. 

Pieces of Interest

Economic Development
On Thursday, Sept. 25, Strafford Economic Development staff received news that the EDA Cares grant applied for back in June was successfully awarded in the amount of $379,131. This funding will support economic recovery and resiliency planning, and will allow Strafford EDD to hire an economic recovery coordinator. This position will be responsible for facilitating connections between business in the region and municipal, state, and federal stakeholders.  

The funding is to be used over the course two years and allows Strafford EDD staffers to guide solutions for the region’s economic recovery from the effects of COVID-19. Read the article published in Foster’s Daily Democrat to learn more

 Pieces of Interest

Strafford Regional Planning Commission | 603-994-3500 | srpc@strafford.org| www.strafford.org
September 25, 2020