OCTOBER 2017
It has been another busy month here at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission!

Over the past month, we saw great progress made towards ensuring a clean Connecticut River and an economically viable Gateway Hilltowns region.

We also continued our commitment to being a learning community with Executive Director Tim Brennan travelling to Seattle to study their innovative approaches to housing and transportation. 

Last, but certainly not least, we were grateful for our Public Health Emergency Preparedness Planner's safe return from the Florida Keys where she had deployed with the American Red Cross as part of their post-Hurricane Irma response. 

We're so excited to share with you the progress being made in the 43 cities and towns of Hampden and Hampshire counties, as well as the ways you can get involved.

-Team Pioneer Valley Planning Commission 
ONE WEEK OUT: New England Knowledge Corridor 'State of the Region' Conference 

Four Members of Congress and Connecticut's Governor Malloy, among many other local, state, regional and business leaders, will be descending on Springfield's Union Station to talk transportation. 
The Pioneer Valley's Connecticut River Clean-Up Committee Secures $1.5 million for infrastructure improvements
 
Holyoke, Chicopee, and Springfield - with administrative support from the PVPC - has once again secured funding from the Massachusetts Environmental Bond bill through the Department of Environmental Protection - now totaling $3 million over four years - to ensure untreated water stays out of the river in heavy rain and snow melt conditions. 
Executive Director Tim Brennan brings some, 'Sound lessons from Seattle' back to the Valley

Tim and A Better City's Kathryn Carlson reflected on their recent trip to Seattle to study their innovative approaches to housing and transportation in a recent Commonwealth Magazine opinion piece. 
Hilltown happenings get a new online home

Gateway Hilltown Collaborative Economic Development Director Jeanne LeClair is making good on one of her primary pledges to the residents of Huntington, Russell, Blandford, Chester, Middlefield and Montgomery by creating a one-stop shop website for promoting all of the great things already happening in the region. 
A Post-Hurricane Irma Response Q&A with PVPC's Stephanie Bozigian-Merrick 

PVPC was proud to support our  Public Health Emergency Preparedness Planner as she deployed to the Florida Keys in the wake of Hurricane Irma where she was tasked with staff wellness nursing - ensuring other responders' well-being. 
Local communities' work towards an accurate 2020 Census count starts now! 

April 1, 2020 may seem a long ways away, but for local officials the time is now for them to appoint a Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) Liaison in order to ensure communities' residents are fully accounted for - determining their next decade's worth of  federal funding levels and political representation.
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