September 3, 2021
STRAFFORD REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION NEWSLETTER
|
|
Apples from Butternut Farm in Farmington. (Photo Credit: The Moose, NH) |
Greetings,
This is a very special newsletter as we are excited to announce the launch our new branding and website. We have been hard at work building a new site to reflect Strafford Regional Planning Commission's many services, projects, collaborations, maps, and documents, and trust this will be a great new resource for partners and stakeholders.
While we did start the launch of our new site last night, it won't be live for everyone until next week. We like to explain it as telling the post office to forward your mail, it takes a little time to actually happen.
Some other exciting things this month, our GIS Planner is drafting an interactive map using 2020 Census Data, outreach staff are diving into an update of SRPC's Title VI and Environmental Justice programming, and transportation field staff are wrapping up the traffic count season.
In this issue you will find information on the launch of SRPC’s new website and branding, SRPC’s latest YouTube video, a public input opportunity to share your favorite arts and culture sites, SRPC’s FY 2021 Annual Report, SRPC’s recent award from the New England Chapter of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (NEURISA), staff news, planning events of interest, and community happenings.
Until Next Month,
Shayna Sylvia
|
|
IN THIS ISSUE
SRPC Launches New Logo!
SRPC's New Website
SRPC's Latest Video
Public Input Opportunity: Arts & Culture Survey
SRPC's Latest Report
SRPC Wins GIS Mapping Award from NEURISA
Staff News
Planning Events of Interest
Community Happenings
|
STAFF SNAPSHOTS - Sept./Oct. |
The Sunrise Lake Watershed Management Plan team participated in a field visit to the Lake for planning purposes. (SRPC Photo)
|
The NH Planners Association (NHPA) celebrated its 50th birthday at an event in October. SRPC staff Kyle Pimental and Jen Czysz attended. (Photo Credit: Donna Benton)
|
|
Drumroll please...Here is the new SRPC logo and branding!
SRPC's updated logo takes on a fresh new look with a sleek design and fun, crisp colors.
It is modeled after a north arrow that can be used on SRPC's map products while also represents the geography of the region, and the work SRPC does. The hilly and mountainous parts of the SRPC region are the peaks in darker green, the white space signifies a road or path (think transportation planning), the lime green represents land (think land use) and the blue at the bottom signifies water, a representation of our water resource and coastal resilience planning.
We are excited to share this new look with you!
|
|
The SRPC website is launching over the weekend and should be viewable to all come Monday.
SRPC staff worked hard to make our website a great resource for partners, commissioners, municipal officials, and other stakeholders. Most importantly, the content is redundant, and can be found in multiple ways. At its base, the site is made up of landing pages for different planning areas and committees. Other components are incorporated into the site as posts allowing them to be filtered and pulled in on respective pages. These are organized into documents, collaborations, maps, services, and projects.
The site uses lots of photos to showcase our work at the planning commission, and also incorporates measures to enumerate and track progress. For Commissioners and other partners, meeting materials and events are displayed in a more user friendly format and can be found in a variety of ways.
Some other new features include dynamic staff profiles which pull in staff's respective projects and areas of expertise, a page for each of our communities, a social wall featuring our social media posts, and separate project, map, and document portals.
|
|
SRPC Arts and Culture Survey
SRPC is seeking your knowledge to help us identify arts and culture sites within the region to create a comprehensive, regional arts and culture inventory. Arts and culture sites can include:
- Music and Art Education: Art school, music lessons, dance academy
- Museums/Galleries/Venues: Art gallery, ballroom, comedy club, exhibition spaces, live music venues
- Clubs/Groups: Book clubs, chorus, community orchestra, crafts club, quilt societies, rotary club, arts commission
- Events: Arts workshops, concert series, craft fair, farmer's market, food and drink festivals, film festival, holiday activities (Christmas parade, Fourth of July fireworks celebrations, etc.)
- Public Art Installations and Memorials: Murals, statues, public art
- Historical Sites: Historical markers and monuments, Native American sites
- Arts and Culture Retail: Antique stores, bookstores, breweries, vineyards, farms, quilt barns, woodworking shops
- Community Arts: Places of worship, writer's space, community centers, little free libraries, game rooms, community spaces
We hope you will help us build our database of site within your community, please fill out our online survey.
|
|
|
|
At the Sept. 23 SRPC quarterly meeting, SRPC Commissioners accepted the FY 2021 SRPC Annual Report.
The report was accepted with some additional items to be added, which includes two additional testimonials and links to the new SRPC website to be added the week of Oct.4.
|
|
SRPC Wins Award for Promoting Outdoor Play Web App |
|
This week SRPC was notified that it won in the "Web Map/Application" competition held by the New England Chapter of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (NEURISA) at its annual conference. NEURISA is a professional association of GIS practitioners in New England.
The award was for SRPC's Promoting Outdoor Play web app, which won first place in the competition. This map was created using data collected by SRPC staff and volunteers and was spearheaded by GIS Planner Jackson Rand.
|
|
 |
Alaina Rogers Promoted to Environmental Planner II
Strafford Regional Planning Commission is proud to announce the promotion of Alaina Rogers to Environmental Planner II.
Alaina was hired in May 2020 as a seasonal data & analysis assistant to help with the Strafford Metropolitan Planning Organization's (MPO) traffic count program, and was promoted to environmental planner in August 2020.
Alaina works primarily on water resource, climate adaptation, and watershed planning.
Please join us in congratulating Alaina!
|
|
|
|
SRPC Welcomes Blair Haney
Strafford Regional Planning Commission welcomes Blair Haney, who started as a regional planner on September 13, 2021.
Blair will be working on hazard mitigation planning, circuit riding, and other land use planning activities.
His current projects include Contract planning services for Nottingham, Barrington Hazard Mitigation Plan, and Community Development Block Grant administration.
Please join us in welcoming Blair!
|
|
|
|
PLANNING EVENTS OF INTEREST |
|
Office of Planning and Development PLAN: Taking a Look at the New 2020 Census Data for New Hampshire Communities, Thursday, Oct. 21 from noon - 1 p.m.
For its next Planning Lunches at Noon (PLAN) segment the Office of Planning and Development will be "Taking a Look at the New 2020 Census Data for New Hampshire Communities."
To register for this virtual event, please e-mail your name, title, and affiliation /municipality to planning@livefree.nh.gov by Oct. 15.
"A Look at the New Housing Appeals Board" Webinar, Wednesday, Oct. 13 at noon
The Housing Appeal Board (HAB) was established by the legislature during the 2020 session and consists of three full-time board members appointed by the New Hampshire Supreme Court, who are deemed "learned and experienced in questions of land use." The Housing Appeals Board hears appeals from local land use board decisions involving “questions of housing and housing development.”
Join NHMA’s Legal Services Counsel, Stephen C. Buckley, who will review the jurisdiction and procedures of the HAB by detailing the key elements of the governing statutes, RSA chapter 679, and the currently applicable administrative rules. A discussion will also be provided on recent decisions by the HAB involving the Town of Francestown and the Town of Pembroke. Register via Zoom.
Save the Date: NHMA's 80th Annual Conference and Exhibition, Wednesday, Nov. 17 - Friday, Nov. 19, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
The NH Municipal Association is excited to announce the dates of Wednesday through Friday, November 17-19 for the 80th Annual Conference and Exhibition at the DoubleTree by Hilton Downtown Manchester. Their theme this year is “Progress Through Partnerships.”
NHMA plans this annual event months in advance, so with uncertainty about the status of COVID-19 in the fall, they are bringing the conference to members and attendees in a new hybrid format—both for safety and convenience.
|
|
Dover Apple Harvest Day
Saturday, Oct. 2, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Dover will hold its 37th Annual Apple Harvest Day on Saturday, Oct. 2.
Apple Harvest Day is a day-long family event, featuring over 300 vendors, great food, live entertainment, and more. The event was first held in 1985 and now draws more than 60,000 people to downtown Dover, making it one of the most popular regional festivals.
|
|
DeMeritt Hill Farm Fall Activities
Various days and times
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
