Building Together: A Collaborative Cultural Plan for Southeast Vermont

Over the past year, the Towns of Brattleboro, Rockingham, and Wilmington, with assistance from WRC, have been working with the Cultural Planning Group on the development of a plan to support arts, culture, and the creative economy in southeast Vermont. “Building Together: A Collaborative Cultural Plan for Southeast Vermont” recognizes the importance of arts and culture in our economy and defining who we are as a region, and makes recommendations to build on our local strengths by:

• Increasing and organizing collaborative capacity among businesses, organizations, and individuals in the creative sector
• Coordinating and strengthening resources to address community needs
• Serving as a resource for communities in the development and updating of Town Plans

A final version of the plan will be released later this fall. This project received a consortium Municipal Planning Grant from the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development. For more information contact Senior Planner Matt Bachler.

WRC Adopts Windham Regional Plan Update

The Windham Regional Commission voted to adopt the Windham Regional Plan update at their regular meeting on July 29th, and the plan went into effect on September 2^nd. This concludes WRC’s regional plan update process that began in the Fall of 2022. WRC has transitioned the plan to a web-based format to improve navigation, and it can be viewed using the following address: http://plan.windhamregional.org.

The Windham Regional Plan provides guidance on the future for the region and is used for WRC’s work program and regional planning efforts.

This plan update did not address the new regional planning requirements included in the Act 181 legislation from 2024. WRC has until December 31, 2026, to adopt an Act 181-compliant Regional Plan. WRC will begin working with its member towns this fall to address these new Act 181 requirements. Additional information on the 2026 Regional Plan update project can be found here. 

Upper West River Corridor Plan

A river corridor plan of the Upper West River Watershed has been completed. Covering the West River and its tributaries from the Townshend Dam upstream, this assessment provides an analysis of the watershed and provides a list of potential projects that will help reduce flooding and restore river habitats.

A public meeting, held on September 3, was recorded by GNAT television. The presentation, by contractor Fitzgerald Environmental, can be viewed here.

A copy of the full Upper West River Corridor Plan can be found here. For more information contact Margo Ghia.

Picture of a previously flooded area after a 
successful dam removal in Weston.

Dover, Readsboro, Whitingham & Wilmington Participate in Flood Adaptation Project

A team let by the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Center for Resilient Metro Regions and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Foundation’s Communities by Design (CxD) Program descended upon the towns of Dover, Readsboro, Whitingham and Wilmington for three days in September. The team met with stakeholders in each town, hosted two public meetings and spent time touring the region. On the last evening, they presented preliminary concepts about how the four towns can better address flood adaption and resilience issues in the future.

The team included experts who have address similar issues in other places. Besides UMASS faculty and AIA staff, the team included the Director of the University of Arkansas’ Design Center and a Principal with RKG. UMASS students from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning also participated. The students will dive deeper into these issues in their scenario planning studio this fall. Look for final reports at the end of the year. Presentations and reports will be posted on WRC’s website. For more information contact Associate Director Sue Westa.

Joel Mills with the Architects Foundation Communities by Design Program presents resilience and adaptation ideas to the public.

MERP Update for the Windham Region

It has been an exciting and busy time for the MERP program in the WRC region. Several municipalities are leveraging implementation grant funding to implement energy efficiency, decarbonization, and energy resilience improvements in public facilities. Towns are going out to bid on a wide breadth of improvements covered under the program, from the weatherization of historic windows to the installation of smart energy storage and generation solutions. WRC is project managing on behalf of several towns, in addition to providing regional program support and coordination.

On the mini-grant front, many towns have remaining funding to support small-scale energy-related activities, such as education, outreach, and small weatherization projects. Mini grants can cover a wide range of measures, including low-cost high-payback energy solutions such as LED lighting upgrades, weatherstripping on doors and windows, and window inserts. Funds can also be pooled between multiple communities to support more ambitious projects.

Reach out to Mike McConnell or Anand Fedele at WRC if you have thoughts or questions about how to use this funding.

BCONE Conference:

Brownfields Coalition of the Northeast

Gary Fox, Katrina Mattice from Stone and Susan Westa from WRC, presenting at the BCONE conference, Brownfields Coalition of the Northeast, in Schenectady, NY. 

They presented about work in Bellows Falls. Their session was called, Areawide Plan Stimulated Redevelopment in a Small Mill Town.

VEM Suspends Regional Work Supported by Emergency Management Performance Grant

Towns were sent the letter below informing them that regional planning commission work funded through the FEMA Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) will be suspended effective October 1^st, the beginning of the new federal fiscal year, due to anticipated FEMA procedural maneuvers. The practical implications of what this means for our EMPG funded work with the towns we serve will depend upon what actually happens and the duration of our inability to do work under this grant. The most obvious and immediate impact will be our support for the Regional Emergency Management Committee, which will presumably be left solely to VEM staff for the time being. However, if you have a need please reach out to our Senior Planner, Alyssa Sabetto, as you normally would. We’ll see what we can do. It is also our understanding that in the event of a disaster VEM will still have the ability to activate us in our role as Local Liaison to the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC), and our role within SEOC operations.