The mission of the Addison County Regional Planning Commission is: 1. To provide a forum for towns to discuss and resolve mutual concerns; 2. To provide assistance to towns with the planning process and information gathering; 3. To develop a regional plan; and 4. To be a central repository of planning information.

 

 

ACRPC FY2006 ANNUAL WORK PLAN

 

ADMINISTRATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

 

·       Maintain Commission office, staff, building, equipment, etc.

·         Develop and administer a balanced budget.

·         Administer receipt and payment of funds according to approved budget, and contractual agreements; Schedule required audits.  Provide reports to funding sources.

·         Administer staff and provide annual staff evaluations.

·         Work to create media coverage of the Commission's informational programs, and of other Commission activities that are of general interest to the Region.

·         Update Commission Bylaws and Personnel Policies as needed.

·         Continue to improve the Newsletter, update mailing list, improve the website and use technology to improve productivity, public outreach and record keeping.

·         Continue to evaluate space, staffing, equipment needs in relation with Joint Partners.

·         Maintain new commission member orientation packages.

 

SERVICES TO MEMBER MUNICIPALITIES

 

·         Provide on-call technical assistance to municipalities; including latest information on planning, zoning concepts, grants, emergency management and legislative changes.

·         Work with municipalities to update town plans, zoning bylaws, subdivision regulations, flood plain regulations, emergency management preparedness, etc. 

·         Make GIS services, data resources and maps available to municipalities and members of the community.

·         Make statistical resources available to municipalities and members of the community.

·         Encourage, support, and provide training for preparation and adoption of capital plans and budgets by municipalities.

·         Provide assistance to those municipalities interested in the formation of Development Review Boards.

·         Make grant information and applications available, to write support letters where appropriate, and to assist in preparation of grant applications as time allows.

·         Provide education and training to boards and commissions concerning planning and bylaws.

·         Help municipalities to adopt procedural and ethics bylaws and to continue to improve procedural practices.

·         Upon request, review the plan or plan amendments of a municipality for conformance with Chapter 117 and provide formal Commission approval of plans that conform.

·         Upon request, review zoning and subdivision regulation amendments of a municipality for conformance with Chapter 117

·         Upon request, assist municipalities with reviews of Act 250/248 and other applications for State permits.

·         Work with municipalities on economic development options, especially related to infrastructure, to tax base expansion, to maintenance of village/town centers, downtowns, growth centers and home occupation/cottage industry citing criteria.

·         Provide assistance, as appropriate, for E-911 service.

·         Promote telecommunications regulations that allow for and facilitate coverage, but protect the aesthetic interests of the town.

 

INTRA AND INTER-REGIONAL COORDINATION  

 

·         Encourage active membership by citizen interest groups that are Commission members.  Fill any vacant seats.

·         Promote the creation of community infrastructure that benefits economic development

·         Implement the FY07 Joint Projects Work Plan together with the Addison County Chamber of Commerce and the Addison County Economic Development Corporation.

·         Implement a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy ("CEDS") together with the Addison County Chamber of Commerce, the Addison County Economic Development Corporation and the Workforce Investment Board

·         Continue to work with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (Soil Conservation Service), land trusts and Otter Creek Natural Resource Conservation District on computerized mapping, watershed planning and other shared concerns/programs.

·         Continue to work with the Addison County Economic Development Corporation and Addison County Chamber of Commerce to improve and maintain a GIS database of existing commercial/industrial sites and existing infrastructure.

·         Attend Vermont Association of Planning and Development Agencies (VAPDA) meetings and participate as actively as possible within the workload of the Commission

·         Work with legislators.

·         Participate in George D. Aiken Resource, Conservation and Development Council.

·         Work with state agencies, particularly the Agency of Commerce and Community Affairs, Agency of Natural Resources, Agency of Transportation, Agency of Agriculture, and Department of Forest, Parks and Recreation.

·         Work with other regions on transportation and natural resource issues.

·         Archeological Resources Mapping:  Work cooperatively with VCGI and the Division for Historic Preservation to provide existing data and GIS layers to help map significant archeological resources, as necessary.

 

EVALUATION, TRAINING, LIBRARY  

 

·         Continue to participate in the Vermont Education and Training Collaborative to improve access to the information and to support and assist in educating and training municipal officials, citizens and special interests regarding planning; plan adoption; bylaw adoption, administration and enforcement; public meetings and hearings process; grant and programmatic resources available to municipalities including the MOMS and TOECS. 

·         Organize, index and update the library resources, both hard copy and electronic data.

·         Attend professional meetings, seminars, training sessions, etc. within the constraints of the approved budget and workload of the Commission.                                        

·         Provide education and training opportunities for commission members and staff as appropriate within the budget.

·         Solicit performance evaluations from members of the organization and other professionals with whom we interact, pursuant to guidelines developed by VAPDA.  

 

REGIONAL PLANNING  

 

·         Facilitate Commission, Executive Board and Committee meetings.

·         Revise/complete revisions to the following Plan elements:

·         Transportation (Continue through 2006/2007)

·         Participate in Act 250/248 and other state permitting reviews.

·         Serve as a Regional Service Center by:

·         Maintaining and updating databases and providing data through our website

·         Improving ability to extract data in a timely manner and publish it in a professional looking format

·         Serving as an associate of Vermont Center Geographic Information (VCGI)

·         Continuing as an affiliate of the State Data Center for receipt of US Census and state agency population, housing, economic and other similar data.

·         Maintaining the County Data Profile in association with the Joint Partners

·         Encourage and support multi-town cooperation on common issues. 

·         Continue watershed planning and assistance.

·         Evaluate and, as appropriate, participate in the planning, siting, permitting and development of all conventional and alternative energy infrastructures.

·         Work with municipalities, landowners, private non-profits, state agencies and legislators to maintain a working agricultural and forest economy in the Addison Region.

·         Maintain and enhance the countywide Natural Resource GIS Database designed to compliment existing land use coverage's.  Enlist town selectboards, planning commissions and conservation commissions in concert with state agencies to help develop the database.

·         Onsite Sewage: Work to continue research and support reform of the State's On-Site Sewage Rules.  Provide support to municipalities to plan for land use changes stemming from any amended onsite rules.

·         Housing: Maintain the regional housing data and work to implement needs and opportunities identified and provide technical assistance to municipalities concerning fair housing law requirements.

In addition to the functions noted above and largely funded by core funding and municipal dues, ACRPC engages in numerous other regional planning functions funded by other entities and generally organized by topic as follows:

 

TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS

 

Transportation. Continue transportation work in the region in concert with the Agency of Transportation ("VTrans") pursuant to the FY06/FY07 Contracts with it:

·         Support the Transportation Advisory Committee ("TAC").

·         Work to expand active membership by municipalities in the TAC.

·         Coordinate the activities of the TAC with the Commission and Executive Board on a monthly basis.

·         Evaluate "front of the book" capital program projects to determine conformance with the regional plan and report valuation findings to the VTrans Program Development Director

·         Maintain a current, prioritized Project List for use by VTRANS, legislators and others.

·         Complete and/or continue FY06 special projects  (VTrans funds follow federal fiscal year -- Oct-Sept.) and begin work on FY07 projects, as further described in the Transportation Workplan:

·         Ongoing facilitation and evaluation of project compliance of State transportation projects in the region;

·         Support for multi-modal transportation planning including focusing on the Vergennes Park and Ride Facility

·         Promote bicycle and pedestrian opportunities by working with municipalities to implement trail plans, incorporating recommendations of the Addison County Region Bicycle and Pedestrian Study and by assisting the Lake Champlain Bikeways in developing and promoting theme loops.

·         Continued participation in and involvement with rail, air and transit planning;

·         Study and/or implement measures that address special problems (such as village corridor management).

·         Update culvert and infrastructure inventories for towns in the county;

·         Use completed Access Management Segment Classifications along state highways and coordinate such classification with Towns within the region and provide access management outreach to municipalities.

·         Aid any town seeking designation under the Lake Champlain Byway program and work to implement the Strategic Plan for Celebration Champlain! and Lake Champlain 2009.

·         Continue to inform municipalities of grant/funding opportunities, to write letters of support, as appropriate, and to assist in preparing applications, if requested.

·         Provide assistance to towns such as:

·         Road Surface Management Systems (RSMS) programs for road inventory and budgeting.

·         Provide education, training and assistance in securing funding for projects

·         Assist in resolving project bottlenecks, where appropriate.

 

·         The municipal Park & Ride Program (for small, inexpensive municipal Park & Ride lots)

·         The Safe Routes to School Program

·         Enhancement related projects throughout the region.

 

·         Attend and participate in scoping, project definition and other VTrans public meetings/work sessions in all towns.

·         Participate in Annual STIP/Capital Program Hearing

·         Update, using Geographic Information System (GIS), a region-wide spreadsheet and related maps of all projects currently active at VTrans, and their status.

·         Attend Transportation Planning Initiative (TPI) meetings and other Agency of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration/Local Roads or academic training sessions.

·         Work with Addison County Transit Resources to support public transit consistent with their Short Range Transit Plan, and our Regional Plan.

·         Work to keep transportation data current and in a form usable by member municipalities.

·         Support municipal implementation of Codes and Bridge Standards.

·         Annually readopt the VTrans Procurement Self Certification System

·         Conduct at least one road safety audit review in the region in conjunction with VTrans personnel.

·         Conduct traffic counts for member municipalities

·         Fund planning studies for member municipalities and regional organizations.

 

Transportation Northwest Project. Participate in the Northwest Vermont Project regarding Access Management in coordination with Chittenden County

 

NATURAL RESOURCES PROJECTS

 

Green Mountain Nation Forest. Work with the Park Service to provide information and coordinate local planning meetings for the Green Mountain National Forest Plan revision.

 

WQ 604B (Water Quality). Provide mapping for the basin planning process and continue to help ACRWC with its database efforts.

 

Basin Planning.  Continue to facilitate the regions interaction with ANR's basin planning process in lower Otter Creek by helping to insure all affected residents of Addison County have the ability to participate in the process.

 

Work with local groups to evaluate, plan and implement river corridor improvements in the region.

     

SPECIAL PLANNING PROJECTS

 

Vergennes Basin Redevelopment. Serve as project manager helping the City of Vergennes Construct Phase I of its Gateway Project.

 

CPDP Phase V.  Community Planning Development Program, Phase V.  Work with Community groups and others to create interactive web-based planning tools for citizen planners.

 

CPDP Phase VI.  Community Planning Development Program, Phase VI. Work with Community groups and others to create interactive web-based planning tools for citizen planners.

 

TA Contracts TP/ZBL/SDR, Technical Assistance Contracts, Zoning Bylaw Development, Subdivision Bylaw Development. Provide technical assistance to towns in drafting plans, zoning bylaws and Subdivision Regulations.

·         Plans - New Haven and Bristol

·         Zoning and Subdivision - Cornwall and Panton

 

GIS Mapping. Provide GIS services to the community.

 

Brownfields.  Depending upon funding availability, provide brownfield assessment services in the region.

 

Stormwater. Help municipalities to understand and comply with proposed stormwater regulations and work with grants available to implement transportation-related stormwater improvements.

 

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PROJECTS

 

EM EMPG05-06 and 06-07 (Emergency Management Planning Grant). Serve as local coordinators and point of contact for Vermont Emergency Management, attend State emergency management meetings as required and fulfill all other obligations stemming from the Emergency Management Planning Grant contract with Vermont Emergency Management

·         Coordinate/ schedule appropriate training events.

·         Develop disaster awareness through outreach to the community.

·         Assist local school districts in development and maintenance of Disaster Plans

·         Provide emergency services grant application assistance where requested.

·         Serve as a source for public Haz-Mat information.

·         Work to promote county and municipal disaster preparedness through development and maintenance of Rapid Response Plans and Emergency Operations Plans for all hazards.

 

EM Training RERP (Radiological Emergency Response Program) Workshop; Serve as a back-up emergency service provided for Vermont Yankee exercises

 

EM LEPC #8 Citizens Corps Cert. 05-06 and 06-07. (Local Emergency Planning Committee #8). Work with LEPC #8 to develop, maintain, and exercise a locally based Citizen Corps of volunteers to help responders in case of a disaster

 

EM Homeland Security Unit Rapid Response Plans/Emergency Operations Plans (RRP/EOP) Work with local municipalities and schools to create rapid response plans and emergency operations plans for emergency events.

 

EM River Management System (Sycamore Park). Complete the work with the Agency of Natural Resources, River Management Division to plan a riparian area in Sycamore Park, Bristol

 

EM PDM-C (Geomorph) Complete work with the Agency of Natural Resources River Management Division to further geomorphic assessments within the region and provide municipalities with the data necessary to evaluate and, as appropriate, create FEH corridors within their plans or zoning bylaws.

 

EM VCGI Critical Facilities. Work with the Vermont Center for Geographic Information to map the first half of the critical facilities within the region.

 

EM Statewide Planning. Work with LEPC #8 to support the next round of statewide exercises

 

EM School Disaster Plans. If funding becomes available, work with the schools in the region to ensure they have proper emergency plans in place.