Commission Meeting May 15, 2026 1

Speakers are labeled SPEAKER_N. This transcript is machine-generated.

Recording

[clears throat] May 15th meeting of the
committee order.
I am Paul Rurham
Curtis Register Durham. Uh Mike
Babinsky, Summerssworth.
>> Mark Richardson, Summerssworth.
>> Willwood building.
>> Sarah Ratesman New Marketer
Northwood
Rochester.
bringing Lisa
>> Lisa Murphy's uh SRPC staff.
>> Um I'm not sure Michael only has her
name.
>> Oh, that's you. Never mind.
>> Okay.
Ernie,
are you there?
Okay.
And all right. So
ah commissioner round table any updates
[clears throat]
contrren isn't here so I'll speak I take
the risk of speaking to her
bington hosted a energy day and really
all week various energy exhibits uh we
had three houses one of which was mine
um demonstrate you know quite a
community if you do a solo, if you do a
super insulated house, if you you know,
all the pieces that go into that, it was
great attendance. We had 15 people for
an hour and a half, you know, just
talking energy matters in in a house.
So, it was kind of a cool thing.
Uh for Durham, the only real update I
have is the Mil Pond Dam removal uh that
may affect any transportation 108 South
uh is going to commence either one June
or 15 June depending on the fish
migration. So that is officially
happening this year. I will expect to be
duration until November of 26. Uh and
then full operations capable on 108
south and then it looks like they're
going to come back in the spring of 27
double check and and sanity check make
sure everything worked out the
culmination of this like 15 years.
>> Are they going to do a baseline on fish
migration?
>> Yep. They're they're uh I mean they're
treating this as a a national historical
site. So they're doing an environmental
uh species as well. Uh they're I mean
they're literally recording the sound of
the dam, the sound of the water and uh
the flow of rate and all that stuff. So
they're being very meticulous and
thoughtful.
>> Do you guys have a fish ladder over
there?
>> We do. Um
it it's one of the ones that only works
really for fish coming in, not going
out.
>> Which is one of the issues that we have
on during harass, right?
Mine's not a new market update, but the
um Office of Planning and Development at
BEA did their spring planning and zoning
conference over the weekend. There were
very few people in attendance because it
was a Saturday virtual conference on
Teams all day, but all of the videos are
now like up on their YouTube page if
anybody wants to watch any of their
there were some really cool sessions
>> and um sort of a request for interest.
Um the Durham Waste Management County
has spent the last five, seven years
trying to push composting programs and
they've done a lot of they have a lot of
information, education, data that
they've collected. They're at the point
where they're looking to try to partner
with other communities to try to create
a more regional interest in composting
since one of the they they currently see
the major
roadblock to broader composting is
simply the lack of commercial composters
and they feel that they can generate
more interest at the local level that
might draw in more people who would be
interested in commercially composting.
So if you have any groups in your
communities that are interested and
would like to learn more about it, reach
out to me and I'll we'll try to get them
in touch with each other.
>> Are you talking about food composting?
>> Organics composting. Yes, food comp, you
know, taking taking the compost out of
your waist stream
>> and thus reducing the amount of stuff
you're sending to the landscape to the
>> Thank you for doing that.
>> Is that a regional project?
>> You know, it
That's that could be potentially up to
us, right?
I'm just saying, you know, right now I
have a committee in town with a lot of
expertise that is now interested in
trying to broaden that.
>> I was just going to add um I'll reach
out on Dober's behalf because our
salvation committee has also been
exploring this. We added Mr.
um bins at our recycling center, but
those are overflowing very quickly. And
then this whole debate of like what
scale does it become appropriate
[clears throat] communitywide. So I'll
reach out.
>> Thank you.
>> Two quick things on summer side. Um a
year from now, the city is going to
transition to a cartbased collection
system for trash and recycling. That's
do a few other communities that are
under contract with waste management.
trend nationally, it's a trend
regionally. Um, if anybody's familiar
with the city of Rochester, they've been
doing it for probably what, two decades,
I would say. So, it's not new, but it's
new for us. We are, in our case, we're
also going to keep the pay as you throw
model with the cards. We're not
eliminating that in major part due to
financial. So potentially a loss of
about a million dollars in revenue if we
said no to the pay as you throw. And
probably more important is the impact on
waste itself because uh the pay as you
throw model incentivizes people to
possibly waste less and maybe recycle
more. Some of the things you guys just
were talking about. But the whole cart
base going into uh our neighborhoods and
streets and locations is something we're
going to be spending the next year on
figuring out um do we need to put
parking restrictions in place? Do we you
know to particularly in our dense parts
of the city? The downtown is
particularly a concern but FYI uh the
the reason for waste management doing it
is tied to efficiency, safety and
retention of employees. uh lifting and
so forth is problematic. So that's
something that we'll be going through
over the next year. You'll hear more
about it on social media and other
opportunities to promote it and educate
the public on the transition.
>> One question hearing that waste
management is projecting they're going
to close the landfill in seven to nine
years.
>> Yeah.
>> How does that impacting this big
investment to walk away from? Well, it's
a huge investment. Uh, you mean on waste
management side or the city side?
>> Both.
>> Yeah. Um, you know, I it's an absolute
key question and I think that it's
something probably this group maybe in
the near term should probably tackle
more from a regional perspective
involving waste management, involving
the turnkey folks on what the future
looks like. You know, if in fact it's
finite, seven years and we're done,
probably need to be starting now about
another regional plan. What does that
look like? Waste energy, more recycling,
new landfill. Yes, no, trucking it to
Canada, you know. So, all those things
are are concerning,
>> but possibly a role for SRPC, I think,
in the future.
>> I agree.
>> This is this is my industry. This is
what I worked in for all my years. And
you
talk to the calling companies and they
give you a straight answer. within the
industry. Every one of them in New
Hampshire is talking about the future
being sending all of our trash and
recycling by rail to either Ohio or down
to the Carolas or Pennsylvania or Ohio
or down to the Carolas where trash
tipping fees are, you know, 20 cents.
uh it's it's it's uh you know versus
almost a dollar and but what's the
transportation gonna cost on that?
>> What's the infrastructure in New
Hampshire going to be on that? The north
country that's why the closing of
Bethlehem and why Dalton was was
suggested is another landfill but you
know that's on hold and probably not
likely to happen. What's the cost of
transportation going to be for those
towns in the north country? Yeah.
>> Because it the rail center would be
they're projecting to be somewhere
between Habil and Lawrence. You know,
everything would be trucked down there
and then by rail go out, but it's
following the Massachusetts model with
everything that they have goes out of
state,
>> you know.
>> So, so definitely more ahead. But I I do
think uh maybe and I know Jen and we
we've done some sessions on this topic
in the over the years and probably
the second topic is and I'll just be
real quick. It's just Summerssworth
Plaza. It's in the news media recently I
think about some redevelopment or
renewed interest in the plaza. We've got
a couple of new businesses going in
there. Nostro which is a mixed martial
arts um gym program. very popular, very
successful in downtown Summersburg. They
ran out of space essentially and so they
they bought a larger facility or room
building, excuse me, within the plaza
for their uh operations and that's being
renovated right now as we speak. They
hope to open early in late May or early
June. So, and a couple other businesses
are going in there as well. is going to
be like a restaurant and maybe a
possible with that restaurant maybe a
grocery store as well and um there's a
PT uh physical therapy uh group that
just moved in and the laundry mats
there. So, and we've done some other
landscape improvements on the plaza but
just kept
>> I just want to correct myself. I think I
said 20 cents and I meant $20 versus
$100. Oh, [laughter]
>> maybe maybe you translated that, but I
think you heard myself when I said that.
Correct.
So, just real quick, I wanted to mention
that HUD has announced uh 2.0, the the
federal opportunity zones
um for municipalities. Uh there were in
the first round of this about a decade
ago there were several community there
were 27 communities throughout the state
that got designated in our region. It
was Durham, do Summerssworth and
Rochester that had tracks that were part
of opportunity zone 1.0. It looks like
from the map that they have on their
website, a second uh census track in
Summersburg is eligible as well as a
census track in Farmington. So this
summer uh I believe sometime in July,
the governor should be nominating those
census tracks to the treasury for
designation. there'll be 25%
um of the eligible tracks uh that are
going to be submitted for that
designation. So I know Farmington is
looking at it um as to whether or not it
makes sense for us to to move forward. I
get the sense from the selectman that
they want to pursue this. So, I don't
know, Mike, if you know if if
Summerssworth is going to pursue the
second census track that is eligible um
or if Durham and Rochester um are also
going to be uh participating in the 2.0.
But I'd love to talk to anybody that has
experience with the opportunity zones.
Some not something that I've got a ton
of experience with, but um how it
worked, you know, what what were the
benefits. It's my understanding that it
has a lot to do with not paying back
capital gains taxes after um you know a
business decides to sell after x amount
of years because it doesn't take into
that uh depreciation. So that's about
really all I know. But it their intent
from my understanding is that they
really want to gear this 2.0 more
towards business retention. So I wanted
to just throw that out there. Uh July is
going to be when the governor makes
those nominations. So, if you haven't
already brought it back to your
communities that the economic zones um
uh that they're going through that
process for 2.0, I would recommend it.
And like I said, love to chat with any
of the communities that have uh have
existing opportunity zones on how that's
worked.
>> Yeah, we'll follow up on probably.
Thanks.
a couple from do um two larger
development projects that are in the
works still a ways out but you might
they've been in Fosters recently so just
wanted to flag folks haven't had a
chance to see one is a um large uh
development project out on Littleworth
Road um that it's the same developer as
place and over if folks are familiar
it's a similar idea mixed use um does
have some restricted housing in it
trying to look at transportation options
um there's Um so they just had a a
community meeting last week I think on
it. Um so there's starting to be more
info still early. Um also um some things
have moved forward with the
redevelopment of the Liberty Mutual
property as well. So if folks again I
know pieces but the the Fosters Art
[clears throat] does a good job and
obviously do planning folks as well. So
just wanted to flag those um the folks
as as movement happening. Um and then um
exciting um I'll sort of more don't
specific but um maybe examples for other
communities as well. Um and folks have
been following the waterfront
redevelopment. So it's where our old
wastewater treatment facility was. Um
now has apartments and restaurants in
it. Um but we just um signed a contract
or agreement earlier this week um to
have a paddle sports um company um start
being able to do um kayak rentals. Um so
trying to mix although it's a little bit
higher end apartments um making sure
that the park area is very oriented
towards public use and access to the
water um and having kayak rentals as
well. So trying to understand there's
some concerns in the community about it
being higherend apartments um but also
trying to make sure that folks have have
access to that green space and access to
water as well. So over the next couple
months hopefully by the summer that will
be all up and running. So come come back
and go over
Uh, so this is obviously outside the
scope of Strapper County, but has there
been any information on the success or
failure of the Costco in Portsouth or in
Newington?
>> Not because I feel like that's going to
bring a significant amount of worker
traffic into the area.
>> Yeah, we can reach out to our colleagues
if
I've heard of that.
don't know exactly,
but uh they right now are having an
issue with the zoning. We're going to
change the zoning
to uh
business residential
and uh far as I know that's still under
debate.
>> I know from my own experience changing a
zone is a living hell, right?
I I do know and the project was
mentioned
amongst a meeting of the RTC directors
yesterday and I think the general
thought was that the residential was not
likely to fly in Newington that they're
not going to be willing to change the
zoning to allow mixed use.
out
>> in a couple months that they'll be on
top of the state law. [clears throat]
>> One other do thing that we're kicking
off a resilience plan process. So
community engagement starts today, this
afternoon. We're back to work day. I can
add what is resilient to me and what
this will be over the next year. more
updates to come.
>> What exactly does that entail?
Resilience plan or what are you handling
and publicizing it?
>> Yeah. Well, that's part of that. So this
is a a few events this summer to try to
gauge where we are and then there's some
probably some surveying and a series of
workshops over the fall starting this
more to the general
we have a very robust round table. Thank
you.
uh minutes from April 17th.
I would move approval of the minutes of
April 17th.
>> I'll second that by Sarah by Mike. Um
any discussion?
All in favor?
>> I
um
roll call.
>> Okay. You there?
>> He's not a voting. Oh,
>> you have all person.
>> Excellent.
>> Hi. Sorry. Um, we were just noting that
for voting, you're not a commissioner,
so we were just talking about having
everyone in person here for voting
purposes.
>> Okay. Um, that gets us to our discussion
items and the final draft is set. Thank
>> Yes. [clears throat] Uh
this
>> okay.
>> So uh good morning everyone. Um can
folks online see the presentation?
So, uh, Natalie and I are here today to
present the draft, uh, SDS comprehensive
economic development strategy that went
out for public comments starting last
Friday, so a week ago, that will be open
through June 7th. Um, so this is a
course.
So, just a little bit of uh background.
This presentation is really laid out
similarly to how the sense is laid out.
Um this is a new five-year sense. So,
everything is brand new. [clears throat]
All of the content has been updated. We
have new themes, new lenses and vision
for the region. So the first couple of
slides are less uh the data that's in
the SDS and more of how we got to its
current structure just so everyone um
has an understanding of kind of the new
steps that we went through. Um but I'll
start just by uh reminding folks of what
the Strapford ED is. Um we are the 15
municipalities within our SRPC region
that are highlighted in this blue green
color. Um and the main staff that work
on economic development are myself,
Natalie, who will jump in in the
presentation to introduce herself and
present. And really what we do is we uh
maintain the SDS for the region. So a
regional vision for economic
development. We do different technical
assistance programs. Um we do different
engagement activities and programs. We
uh bring together economic development
stakeholders from across three regions,
southern Maine, our region, and region
southeastern New Hampshire for regular
collaboration. Um and then we also do uh
different uh projects that overlap the
regional planning and economic
development work.
So um what is a sense? I think it's
important to kind of zoom out a little
bit and just uh remind folks this is
what we did in the plan and remind folks
as well in this room is that it is the
strategic vision for economic
development in the region for the next
five years. It includes several
different components. So a regional uh
overview of economic conditions
throughout the 15 municipalities or
throughout our SRPC region or the county
um data is available in different ways.
So use it in different representative
ways. It includes an analysis of the
region's strengths, opportunities, and
goals for a sore or a SWAT activity. It
includes what the strategic direction is
for the region and the vision and an
action plan as well. Um and then it also
includes a list of submitted priority
projects that align with the economic
development um kind of vision and goals
that were laid out in the plan and um a
plan for us to evaluate our progress in
the SDS over the five years. And also
throughout the document is um important
discussions of economic resilience as
well.
And uh the kind of squishiest parts of
the SDS are the strategic direction,
vision, action plan. This is where we
get to be um really visionary in terms
of what we want the region to be in the
next 5 years in terms of economic
development. Um and this section along
with the priority projects, how they
align with the different areas
identified are really shaped by the
guidance and feedback we heard from you
all as board of directors over several
meetings where we engaged with you and
then also with our strategy committee
which was a brand new group that we uh
brought together uh late last year,
early this year. Um that was the
updating of the bylaws exercise we went
through. um and they have been a great
group to work with to help guide the
sense. So, this is the first time we've
really had a formalized strategy
committee. Um in the past, we've had
kind of a less formal version, a less
formal group of people who were really
helping to shape the SDS. And the
strategy committee that we developed um
encompasses a broad range of
perspectives. So these were folks that
we met with monthly over the last six
months to help develop the SDS and they
represent perspectives from K12, higher
education, healthcare, agriculture
planning, um nonprofit sector, social
services, business, technical
assistance, transportation, housing. We
tried to get together a really diverse
group of people um to provide their
perspectives on the sets and we think
that we brought a great group of people
together to really help complement the
feedback that you all were able to
provide throughout this process um and
the data that we were able to input to
develop a really strong plan.
So in the plan we really highlight that
economic development is a broad uh
topic. Most people hear economic
development, some of them think, oh,
it's just job growth. Some of them think
it's just, you know, how much economic
growth in terms of business starts and
things like that. But the way that the
economic development administration
defines uh economic development is that
we're promoting economic growth and
we're improving the quality of life in
the region. So, we're creating a
environment for businesses to start,
employees to have their me needs met.
Um, and really trying to create an an
all-encompassing environment where we
foster opportunity across all different
modes for people, for families, school
systems that are that pipeline for educa
uh pipeline for careers and all of the
different areas that impact the economy.
So uh like I said the SDS development um
took together a couple of different
areas. We have the strategy committee
and board of directors um feedback
because we are also updating our full
comprehensive plan as well. Uh we're
using the SS as a the economic
development component of that plan. we
are able to we were able to pull in
different feedback we got from the
public as well through the different
regional events we did last year um in
person around the region and then
through the big regionwide public
survey. So that fed into the sets
development and then I think it was last
meeting where Rachel announced the data
snapshot being released all the
different data metrics those also are a
really important component that are
incorporated into sense as well.
Um, so how our SS is structured, if you
remember our last SS, we had different
thematic areas um and lenses for this
SS. We really wanted to um be thoughtful
and intentional about creating a uh
vision statement for the region. Our
2021 to 2025 sets did not have a uh
written out vision statement. uh the
collective document was the vision, but
we worked with our committee to uh uh
make sure that we developed a vision
statement and then from there we
developed different thematic areas that
impact economic development in our
region. We developed particular goals in
each of those areas and then we also
developed objectives and specific action
items to get us there as well. uh like
our last said, we did also identify
lenses which are areas outside of the
themes that impact everything in the
document. So there those are kind of the
crosscutting um areas of the document.
So the vision statement that was
developed um with the help of the
strategy committee with the review um
and comments that we received from you
all a couple of months ago is here on
the screen. Um it's a little bit longer,
but really what it encompasses is that
we want or in the plan it's identified
that the Straford region needs to be a
uh resilient and thriving place where we
leverage the strengths that we have, the
natural resources and cultural assets
that we have to be able to create an
environment where people can afford to
live, build a family, um and then where
businesses can also uh start expanding
and and grow as well.
Some of the lenses that we identified um
for the SS are so again these are these
cross cutting areas that impact all of
the different themes and all of the
different areas. So we try to be
thoughtful about these when uh
throughout all areas of SES are
highlighting regional partnerships and
collaboration um resilience and future
readiness uh quality of life and
community identity and then also
ensuring that we'reum thoughtful about
age friendliness um throughout these
discussions as well. So um that includes
you know folks who may be getting older
and then also ensuring that we're you
know welcoming and meeting the needs of
younger individuals, families, people
like that.
So the four thematic areas that were
identified for the SESS and I think some
of you may remember the activities we
did our previous sets had nine or 10 um
different themes and there was a lot of
discussion about how they can be uh more
thoughtfully consolidated. So these were
the different areas that were identified
as impacting economic development in the
region. things that are impeding
economic development but then also are
really uh important strengths as well
that we could leverage more to help us
grow. So those are housing um business
innovation and entrepreneurship
workforce education and child's care and
then um ensuring that our communities
are healthy and environment as well.
So
a good portion of the document is uh
laid out to discuss different data
metrics relevant to the region and then
also relevant to those different
thematic areas. Um capacity for economic
development is an interesting metric
that's developed by uh the Argon
National Laboratories. I believe it's a
University of
Indiana who develops this in partnership
with the economic development
administration. And what they do is they
look at economic development
holistically using EDA's definition of
more than just job growth. It's also
including that environment um for uh
economic mobility and economic
prosperity for businesses and
individuals and families. And what they
do is they look at 56 or 58, I don't
remember the exact number off the top of
my head, different data metrics across a
variety of different topical areas. And
they uh create an index or five indexes
for each county in the nation. And it is
a value from 0 to one in each of these
different areas. And the higher you are,
the closer you are to one um the more
elevated you are above the national
average.
So 0.5 will be you're in line with the
rest of you're in line with the national
average. So for Stratford County as a
whole, uh the five different areas,
human capital, um which is human
development indices, uh economic
mobility is in there. Financial, which
has to do with um not just personal and
uh business finances, but also local
government finances are in here. Um
industry is diversity of industry
structure or industry sectors.
infrastructure is public and private
infrastructure and Harvard Gibson
institutions is a very interesting
metric that uh covers things like higher
education as well and for Straw Wake
County all of our values are above that
average. Um several of our values are
considered elevated especially in terms
of human capital things like quality of
life in our region um and our industry
uh mix and infrastructure. Um so what
these metrics highlight is that our
region uh does a good job currently at
leveraging the different strengths that
we have for economic development. I'm
not able to go back uh go the slide.
Uh our region does a good job at
leveraging the different things that we
have, but we've also done a good job at
building different areas out to
strengthen economic development as
supported by states in terms of our
infrastructure
um and our partnerships and institutions
that we have.
>> Michael, are we holding questions to the
end or we
>> Oh, I'm sorry. Uh ask questions now. Ask
them at the end. Doesn't matter.
>> Uh there's a said reference to source
document that does the formula.
>> Yeah. Oh yeah. Yep. Yeah. So, there is a
methodology document linked in the
sense. It's likeund and something pages
long to these numbers. Um, but they're
very thorough in talking about each of
the different metrics that go into here.
Um, and the reason that EDA partnered
with the Argon Labs is because they have
the capacity to do this for every single
county. So it's a really really
representative um when you look at what
the capacity for economic development is
under
so another metric um that we include in
the feds is economic distress. So, the
Economic Development Administration
measures or defines economic distress as
having an unemployment rate at least one
percentage point higher than the
national average or a per capita income
that is 80% or less than the national
average. And in order to calculate this
at the smallest local level, we look at
the different census tracks in our
region. Um, and within the Straford
Economic Development District, the
latest data we have available is the
2023 5-year estimate from the American
Community Survey. And in that data, we
have six tracks which are highlighted
here in this green color that are
defined as economically distressed by
the Economic Development Administration.
That doesn't mean that there are other
areas outside of these places that you
know might not be considered
economically distressed by another
person's definition. And that also
doesn't mean that you know everyone in
these blue areas is doing poor
economically. This is just a metric that
uh the EDA requires we discuss in the
sense um and it's also uh an interesting
way to kind of look at their definition
of of economic stress. So we have some
of the we have the one census track that
covers um uh in Durham and
>> Middleton
>> Middleton sorry in Durham and we have a
section of Farmington section of
Rochester uh two sections in um Durham
and then we also have an area in do as
well that are considered economically
distressed. in the past uh previous data
in the last um set there was a seven
area that was considered economically
distressed in Rochester another census
tract. One challenge of this definition
of economic distress is that some of
these areas have really small
populations. So the margins of error are
big. Um, so when we looked at, you can't
really compare five-year averages that
have overlapping years to each other.
It's not recommended, but we were
looking at the flip that happened in
that census track that flipped from
being distressed to not distressed and
the margin of error is larger than the
actual value several times. Um, so
again, this is not a perfect way of
looking at economic distress. This is
just how EDA wants us to.
So now getting into the regional
overview. So what we've seen in the
latest data for the Strapford region, um
our population is projected to grow. Um
like other uh like many other areas in
the state, um we are constrained by
several things which we will talk about
um in subsequent slides, but we are one
of the we are the youngest county in the
state. Um, some of that is due to UNH
Durham being located here. Others is due
to just the different quality of life
aspects we have, the cities we have, the
different types of people that we draw
to the region and we incentivize to stay
in the region. Um, but throughout the
different municipalities in our region
and a majority of them, median age is
rising.
universities number of children is
declining regionwide.
Um but despite that we are still the
youngest in youngest county in the
state.
Uh other things that we touch on in the
regional overview is we also go through
our um industry breakdown in terms of
jobs in the region and the projections
through 2045. What's highlighted here
are our largest industry sectors um as
uh uh projected for 20 uh 2045. So the
four largest sectors that are projected
um in that 20 year time frame about are
educational services, manufacturing,
retail trade and social services.
We also talk a little bit about
unemployment um in the Fed as well. um
unemployment have been historically low.
Um it's a little hard to see, but um the
unemployment rates here are in the twos
and threes and ones, which uh is quite
low. Um there are several different
factors that could be impacting that in
terms of uh labor force availability, um
number of jobs that are available, the
more jobs that there are um people
looking for work. But labor force and
unemployment is a really nuanced uh
topic to discuss because you can really
get into the immediately of you know who
is the labor force when someone stops
looking for a job because they're
discouraged are they counting different
things like that but we do do we do
discuss that a little bit um in the
studs but what we do want to highlight
here is that unemployment continues to
be very low sorry Jen yeah Sarah
>> um keeping in mind that I can't see this
at all Uh my question with this kind of
regional data is always like is this
capturing jobs in the region, people who
live in the region and what their jobs
are or a combination of both like if you
live in the region but you don't work in
the region is it just jobs in the
region?
>> So we we don't we don't get into it in
this presentation but in the sense we do
do that analysis of jobs in the region
and jobs outside the region. Um and we
have two maps that visualize it. Um it's
also discussed in the data snapshot too
if you're interested where we uh look at
who where pe people who work in the
Straford region but don't live here
where are they coming from and how many
of them are there and then the vice the
opposite of that where people who live
in the Statford region but work outside
of it where do they go and how many of
them are there and uh what what the
analysis found is that uh we have a lot
of people in our region who leave our
region
Thank you. Mike, if I might, if I'm not
mistaken, the table on the left
>> is jobs in the region.
>> Yes.
>> The bar chart on the right is people who
live in the region.
>> I need to confirm that.
>> I believe that's
>> I need a much bigger. Um yeah, I might
have missed this if I addressed it, but
what is the significance of the
highlight and what are the highlight?
>> Oh, sorry. So, this chart is doing um
two things.
>> Oh, I apologize. I'm talking about the
one on the left hand side, not the not
the bar graph, but the uh the chart, the
four yellows, what are they and what do
they mean?
>> Yeah. So, these are the large these are
the large four largest areas uh that are
projected to have uh jobs in 2020. Okay.
uh educational services, manufacturing,
retail trading, and social services.
Thank you.
And for the next couple slides, Natalie,
I'm going to turn it over to you to talk
about these themes that let you
[snorts]
Oh, I see.
Hear us.
Say, can we hear you?
>> Yes, I can hear you. Hi. Sorry. Sorry I
was late, everybody. Hello.
>> Oh, no worries. It looks like we just
lost Natalie. Okay.
>> I I Yeah, I think it was just Natalie
seemed to freeze up. So,
>> here we go.
>> Sorry. Um, yeah, I am so sorry. My Wi-Fi
dropped and I am joining from my phone,
but I'm happy to present. I can see the
the presentation.
Um, sorry about that. So, yes, I will.
Um, sorry, Mike, you haven't touched
upon this slide at all yet, right?
>> Uh, no, probably will.
>> Okay. Okay. Thank you. Um, good morning
everyone. Um, so moving on to our first
theme of housing. As you can see here,
some of the main trends that we're
seeing um include limited supply,
increased prices, and workforce and
demographic shifts that are highlighted
that have highlighted the need for more
varied housing types. So um to better
understand supply we look at building
permit data which is um to the left and
that shows that building permits in the
region have only partially rebounded
even as population growth has steadily
de um has steadily grown which is the
green line on the left chart. Um we also
look at the number of seasonal homes in
the region as impact the overall supply
of houses that are available for
full-time residents and workers. So to
the right you can see that in the region
roughly 10% of all housing stock is
vacant and of this share almost 60% was
classified as seasonal.
Next slide please.
The median sales price in Straford
County has continued to increase um as
we can see on the left. Meanwhile median
household income shown on the right have
not kept pace. We know that from 2019 to
2024, the median household income in
Stratford County increased 21% while the
median sales price increased 73% during
that same period.
Next slide, please.
>> Oh, we got a question from Natalie from
Steve.
>> Sorry, Natalie. Can you go two slides
ago? The the seasonal
housing, did you say 60%?
>> That's what I heard, too.
>> And could you just unpack that a little?
What are we defining housing say?
>> Yes. So um of the entire region's
housing stock about 10% is considered
vacant.
>> So of that 10% um that share of 10%
vacant housing.
60% um of homes were Yeah.
>> Got it.
>> Yeah. Only 60% are recorded as seasonal.
So only so 60% of the rent vacant rental
property
>> exactly 60% of the 10%. If that makes
sense
>> 60% of the 10% minus 37%
[laughter]
on the same same topic does is there
unvacant housing occupied housing I
guess is a better way to say it than
unvacant that is considered seasonal as
well. Um
uh so what is what percentage of the
regional housing stock is seasonal but
inclusive of both vacant and occupied or
is that not a thing? Sorry.
>> Um I don't know. I don't know that we
track that. So vacant homes are recorded
as such um when owners are at a
different permanent address on census
day which is April 1st.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Yep.
So um
this slide um we see that higher housing
costs and um housing related expenses
have made it cheaper to rent than to buy
a home even for those who are able to
put 20% down payments. So um this is
despite the fact that rents have also
continued to increase every year.
Other factors such as inflation,
monetary policies um and increased taxes
and insurance have also influenced
housing affordability. For example,
total tax valuations in Straford County
have increased despite municipal tax
rates declining and consumer price index
for um building materials and supplies
has increased by approximately 28%
between 2021 and 2026.
So in summary um there's limited supply
of housing. There are the r the sales
prices are rising. There is diminished
affordability caused by higher interest
rates, rising costs of goods and
services um and higher taxes and wages
are not keeping pace. And there is also
a need for more housing types as a
result of demographic shifts including
smaller household sizes.
So our next theme is business,
entrepreneurship and innovation. Um here
we look at broad economic pressures that
are impacting local business operations
such as inflation and higher interest
rates. So on this slide we can see um
that both have increased sharply which
has impacted costs for businesses and
also constrained household spending. In
addition, we know that current global
conflicts are impacting fuel costs and
supply and this is going to further
impact the cost of goods and services
and it's not yet reflected on these
charts. So notably some of the things
that we talk about in the sets include
um key industries that could be impacted
including manufacturing and medical
services and also agriculture.
Some of these pressures are reflected in
New Hampshire's household debt patterns,
which um show that credit card,
mortgages, auto, and student loan debt
have all risen over the past decade,
which indicates that many households and
businesses are facing higher costs and
or having to rely more on credit.
Another trend that we're tracking is um
the sharp decline in SBA business loans,
which could in part be tied to recent
changes in the loan program that include
higher interest rates and less favorable
loan conditions, but it could also
indicate that business confidence has
weakened. Other things that um we'll
continue to track that are influencing
local business operations,
entrepreneurship and innovation include
um the impacts of shifting demographics
and also emerging technologies such as
AI. So um in summary, so we have the the
rising cost of goods and services which
has impacted the cost of doing business
and global conflicts are expected to
exacerbate this. higher interest rates
that have increased borrowing costs for
businesses and entrepreneurs and
constrained household spending.
Household debt has continued to increase
and there has been a decrease and SBA
backed business loans which could be a
reflection of broader economic factors.
So for our next theme, workforce
education and child care, a few trends
that characterize the region as um seen
briefly before include low unemployment,
a labor force that is largely rebranded
from the impacts of COVID, and strong
educational and training opportunities
in the region that position us as a
competitive place to do business. Um
however, demographic and economic shifts
such as declining youth populations, a
rise in older populations, and limited
workforce and um affordable child care
could lead to tighter workforce
pipelines. So in this slide, for
example, um we're seeing that public
school enrollment is shrinking, which
could mean that less people are entering
the will be entering the labor force in
the future. Next slide, please. Here
um we see that the number of workers
over the age of 65 is increasing which
in part could be a reflection of broader
economic pressures such as higher living
expenses that may be pushing older
people or older adults to stay in the
workforce for longer. Um, so in addition
to this, we're tracking all of those
shifting labor trends and the emergence
of new technologies to help us better
understand how these are shaping skills
and also training needs to meet current
and future industry demand.
Looking at trends in child care, um we
know that supply lags demand where there
are currently 4,638
child care slots available and an
estimated demand of 5,579
children in the SRPC region. Meanwhile,
other challenges include low wages for
childare workers and high costs for
families. um which based on these
numbers on the screen um we can we know
that they account for over 18% of the
Straford County median household income
for just one child. Um and at the same
time providers are facing staffing
challenges. They face barriers around
establishing a new business and they
also face high operating expenses.
So in summary um we know that the region
is characterized by high quality
education and skills training
institutions, low unemployment and a
skilled labor force. Um there are
demographic shifts including decrease in
younger populations, lower birth rates
and aging demographics and the lack of
affordable
um housing and child care which are
expected to impact the future talent
pipeline. We're also seeing broader
economic pressures impacting workforce
dynamics and reshaping skills and
training needs. And lastly, um, child
care is facing multi-layered challenges,
including low wages, high costs for
families, and financial and regulatory
barriers for providers.
>> Thanks, [clears throat] Natalie. And for
the last theme, um, I'll talk a little
bit about the healthy and vibrant
topic. This is a squishier topic in
terms of how do you measure if a
community is healthy and vibrant. Um so
within this section of the set into some
of the research that's been done over
the years as to what makes a community
vibrant. Um and also uh talk a lot about
social capital building as well. So the
importance of ensuring that communities
foster social capital, build connections
between people um and meet their needs
in terms of uh you know grocery stores
being close by areas being well
connected, access to natural resources,
access to housing and different topics
like that. um our strategy committee
talked a lot about the importance of
connecting our communities in more ways
than just um via you know roads for
cars. They talked a lot about
walkability and multi-use paths. They
talked a lot about ensuring that our
natural resources and recreation areas
are um protected and also accessible to
people to ensure that our quality of
life stays high in the region. Um so
some of the data that we've shown on
here in this chart it's a little hard to
see but it's in the sets figure these
are our land use changes over time. Um
and a lot of the discussion that we have
with our strategy committee is how uh
some of our development patterns may not
be conducive to healthy environment
communities. How much forest and land
we're losing um or development. Um
different types of development patterns
are discussed in here. But really in
this section we lean a lot on the
existing research in terms of what makes
a community vibrant and how you build
social capital.
So also in the sense are a list of
priority projects. Um so these are
projects that are submitted by
municipalities, government entities,
nonprofits in the region um for
inclusion in the events. Um so to be
included here after being submitted, we
ensure that all projects are in
alignment with themes. So we work
through them a strategy committee. Um so
everything that was submitted this past
year does show alignment with different
themes and lenses in the sense as
supporting economic development. um 14
of our local uh governments um submitted
projects. Um in total we had 61 projects
submitted for a total value uh projects
of over $900 million. Um and these
include projects that are uh under
construction and have funding all the
way to projects that are very kind of
highlevel thoughts and conversations.
Um, an example of one is, um, Bington's
competitive project about pedestrian
improvements at the intersections of
Route 9 and ROS 125, how to better
connect trails in the area, build
sidewalk networks, especially because
schools are right there. And one of the
projects that they put into the sets
involves investigating whether a
pedestrian tunnel under five is a
visa.
So there's a broad range of types of
products in the SDS. Um they are all
broken out um the actual document. And I
will just say too um including a project
in the SDS um does make it eligible for
certain economic development
administration funding. um that funding
really doesn't flow uh very easily or
consistently. But another benefit of
having the project in a sense is that it
shows alignment with the regional plan
makes them more competitive if they do
go after other funding sources public or
private. Um and we give them letters of
recommendation but then letters of
support for projects that are in the
sets as they go after.
So it is it is really this project sets.
And then um lastly we also have a
preliminary action plan in the sets. Uh
we've laid out with the help of our
committee 48 different actions that SRPC
can take over the next five years. Um,
we had a lot of interest from our
committee about building a broader
implementation plan for the events so
that we can hopefully try and address a
lot of the issues that we've identified
um that may be impeding economic
development and also foster the
different opportunities that we have to
support economic development. So, uh, in
the actual sense, it's listed as a
preliminary action plan with just
actions for SRPC to consider within what
we've been doing. But our committee is
interested in working over the next
couple of months um ahead of the
one-year update which will be considered
next June um to build out a broader
regional implementation strategy with
buyin from different partners um and uh
more uh ways to measure success as well.
So what's listed in the plan is
preliminary just stuff that we can do
what we're going to be working with over
the next few months to build something a
little bit more robust and all the same.
So in terms of where we're at um we are
in the public comment period right now
for the studs that will go through June
7th. Um this presentation is an
opportunity for you all to provide
comments. Um or you're welcome to
provide comments, you know, over email
or a phone call, you know, later on if
you need to digest. Um we are going to
be doing this same presentation with our
strategy committee at the end of the
month for our last uh meeting for this
kind of development cycle for the cycle
on May 29th. Um public comment period,
like I said, will close on June 7th. Um
on June 8th we'll start the preparation
of the comment log and we'll be
addressing all of the different comments
that we get. Um as well we're also going
to be working on laying out the document
into you know kind of final form if
you've seen it so far. It doesn't have
any pictures in it. Um it's a lot of
text and charts that need a little bit
of final formatting but we're going to
be working on finalizing that as well.
And then uh on June 12th, you all will
get it in your meeting packet uh the
final says with the comments
incorporated for you to review at the
June 19th meeting and the June 19th
meeting the opportunity for you all to
consider it for adoption.
>> Forgive my ignorance. The board of
directors is us.
Yes.
among other things.
Commission
resume.
>> So yeah, happy to uh answer any
questions, take comments. Now Steve,
>> I know the committee strategy comm
talked about this a little bit, but in
considering uh child care is important,
but we have Did you dive into elder care
and the impacts of elder as we got an
aging population?
How is that going to impact the need
need for elder care? What kind of jobs
will that create? And also, how might
that strain restrain people from
participating in the labor force?
And also I think would there be an
impact on town revenue
um because of
>> okay we will um I know that we don't
discuss it too directly in the fence but
that's something
well I would open that I don't know that
that's my personal question but I does
the committee feel like that was so
>> well it doesn't you know really quick on
>> Oh, sorry. [clears throat]
I was just gonna say really quick on
that. Um, [laughter]
>> okay. Sorry,
I can't see anyone on the screen.
Um I was just going to say related to
the aging population, there is uh some
discussion in the sets about the impacts
on the workforce
um and how the aging population is going
to leave some gaps in the labor force um
especially as it pertains to some of the
more um skilled trades. So we we do have
some discussion on that. Um but yet we
have to um expand on the impacts of
social services.
>> I'd like to jump on that too. I also had
a a comment to that. And if in a handful
of years and social security drops by
28% that number is going to go up to
cover the difference. And I know I mean
this is nobody has an answer for this or
I doubt they have an answer for this but
something we should be looking at is
assuming that social security is going
to take a hit. I'm going to take a hit.
All of us that are in that bucket are
going to take a hit. And
I'll be pushing 80 by then and going
back to work doesn't sound like a very
good idea to me. And so we are not a
poor state. I wouldn't say we're a rich
state either. But are there things that
we could be looking at regionally or
statewide to kind of offset the hit that
we might take? And I mean the elderly.
>> So it's food for thought more than
anything.
>> And I would just that to echo the um
finally being out of the child care mode
and now starting to research the elder
care is on the horizon. It's incredibly
overwhelming and it's gonna blow my
child care costs out of the water. And
yes, parents have resources to help with
that, but it's gonna fall on.
So, I think it's a good
>> and folks in the middle are going to get
squeezed from both ends,
>> right?
>> Change
a little bit. You
>> don't have much left. Not much left.
>> I'm with you, brother. I'm with you.
>> Yeah. To change the subject. Well, going
back to the the housing, do you have and
this has always been a curiosity for me
because as a planning board member, I
often think about this. Do you have data
on the housing or or economic
development as well?
How many developers are local versus
not?
>> Because I think the local developers
have a much better picture. they have an
investment in the community. They
understand what people are asking for.
Whereas developers from out of the area,
they just want to get a built and make
some money. I mean, it's really an
attitude difference. And and I'm just
wondering if you've ever looked at
something like that. Um, and I don't
know how you measured that, but you
know, I I think knowing who's local
versus not matters just from a planning
board perspective. The other question I
have um with regards to the distressed
areas,
I'm looking at that and and and you know
there are people who are who are happy
being in you know that they like open
space. They like forested areas. They
like they don't mind traveling to work.
They like the the silence. They like the
animals and they don't want that. So, I
find it hard sometimes to say that
that's a I would find it hard personally
to say that that's a stressed community
because that's not what they're looking
for and their zoning reflects it and all
of that. And so, I kind of look at that
and go, you know, how do you measure
that? But it's a factor.
>> Yeah. Distress. So, so this definition
of distress is required by VA being says
this is this is how they define it, you
know, either unemployment 1% above or
80%
income less than the average. Um, I
agree that it's
it's tough to compare these areas to a
national average and say exactly what
what you're saying of like are those
communities in the north of our region
actually like distressed economically.
Um, but it's it's in here because it's
required.
>> And and the first thing that those two
zones in Durham, that's where two of our
largest student housing.
>> Just to clarify. Oh, I forgot my
question.
>> Uh, so distressed is just those two
items. There's nothing further to look
at. That's all they look at are those
two. That's all EDA
if you meet one of those conditions.
>> So,
>> thank you. That's why we we also
included um the capacity for economic
development at the region or at the
county level because I think it's more
reflective of the collective strengths
we have like we have industry in our
more developed areas but then we also
have different types of industries and
different types of human capital um met
metrics in our more rural areas which
also impact economic development
positively.
Just because a area you know doesn't
have factories in it doesn't mean that
it's not promoting economic development
in the full definition of economic
development which includes quality of
life. So I think that's why our human
capital measure here is as high as it is
being that rate of so well above what
other what the national average is
being.
Um, I had a quick and I won't admit
having not gone back to reread the
section, but can we put caveats in that
thing to say like that it's student
housing. I think the do example like
some of the most expensive houses in do
are in that block. So, I was like trying
to I'm like looking at the map. I'm
like, I don't know why this coronary
came from because it's
>> um but maybe there's some things to just
put our own what we know about the
region. Not to dispute it, but just to
like provide our own flavor to
>> whatif.
>> Yeah. Yeah. And just like just like some
asterisks just be like this is what
these
>> they're distressed because they get 75%
of their income is paying for their
mortgage.
kind of distress
>> and we think $3 million house
>> and we tried to highlight um as I guess
professionally as we could in the
document that like this is DBA's
definition which required to be here in
a sense that's just what it is but uh we
can strengthen that say like this is
just how we define it what's required
you know what may not be accurable We
look like um there were a couple
>> um you had described in one of the
slides that if you got a capital project
that's on the list, it's more favorable.
>> Can you explain how we know whether or
not projects are on the list and how to
nominate them?
>> Yeah. So, um we do project solicitation.
I can't remember the exact date we
started it, but it took about a month
and a half early in the year where we
emailed all of our municipal contacts,
town managers, um, public works, uh,
anyone who submitted a project in the
past. We also have a broad contact list
of people who represent municipalities
um who could provide information on
existing projects and communities that
could be good for funding that align
with the economic development prior this
year or u you know an idea for a new
project. So we did a bit of outreach in
terms of emails, phone calls um some
direct outreach as well too. There were
a handful of projects that were
submitted in the past um that we reached
out to to so so this is not a weak list.
Most of these projects were in the last
sets but as long as we reach out to the
people who submitted it and they say yes
we want to keep doing sets and they
provide us with updates even if the
update is we have no updates um it can
stay in. there were a handful of
communities that chose to take projects
off actively um because they were either
things that they were doing themselves
and they're almost done but they're
already done or it's just not a priority
anymore. Um and then we also had some
communities who just you know chose not
to continue to submit
>> do they need to be public? So it needs
to be submitted by a public entity. Um
but public private projects are eligible
as long as the public entity is there.
>> Is that list in the sense?
>> Yep. So the full list is in the sense um
we just have uh project value if it's
new municipal and your organization and
uh title of project. But if you are
interested in kind of the the bigger
list because we ask you know a lot of
details about the project and you think
people can provide in like long
narrative form we can provide that as
well too. We just want to include it in
the sides because it make the document
so long but if there is a particular
project that you're like oh what are
they doing? How does that line?
>> Thank you. to re or to follow up with
Leic's question. Uh, is anything that a
town submits included
or is there a vetting process? So, I can
say if I'm making crosswalks, I want
that to be a priority project.
>> Yeah, so there is a there is a process
to submit which is uh, you know, just
answering a questionnaire. Um, but we
need to bring all of the projects to the
strategy committee to review.
>> Um, so they
>> there is some filteration.
>> Yes. We've never had a project that I've
heard of where we're like
>> that we're like this is not related to
economic development in the sense at
all. Um it will be very hard to submit a
project that doesn't have some impact
like things like waste water
like that that all impacts of course
intersectionality.
>> And I'll say when um projects are being
submission submitted that intake form
includes
identifying how that project directly
relates to the themes and goals of the
set.
>> But you can just put anything down,
right?
passes
like
yeah it's not it's like oh I want to
tell you check [laughter]
>> let's see right
>> it's a hypothetical question
>> yeah
just real quick back to the mission
statement definition of volunteer
capacity
>> are you trying to expand And maybe
there's a slide out that was right at
the beginning. There it is.
>> Yeah. So, um what we were trying to get
at when we worked with the committee um
was really uh when discussing volunteers
talking about board members in
communities um as well because they're
technically volunteering
>> recruiting them or maintaining them or
>> I think that that's all the above.
>> Yeah, I think that that would all be
included.
You don't get paid
check
in the mail. They're hot.
>> Oh, is that Oh, sorry. I I didn't hear
you. Um, just a this might be a question
for later, but um and it's my first SS
process. So, why why is a track selected
as opposed to something more granular
just from a data perspective looking at
projects? the is it uh you know you
could use blocks or block groups
to try to winnow out some of some blocks
some tracks for an entire town versus
maybe
not
I don't know I'm just uh I'm just
curious
>> so in terms of the economic distress um
>> yes yeah specifically this gets back a
couple discussions ago but didn't have a
chance to
>> um so census tracks are typically the
smallest geographic measure that federal
data sets go to where it's considered
reliable.
>> Like for like we have several census
tracks in our region that cover multiple
municipalities just because they're so
small. Um whereas if you know we tried
to look at the data at the municipal
level there it would just be way too
unreliable. Um, so I think that's
probably part of the reason why the
chose to do it this way. But yeah, there
are there are shortcomings um, for sure
this measure.
>> So commentary is open. You can submit
them to Mike.
>> Yep. Yep. You can um email um is
probably the easiest way, but happy to
you know have a discussion as well too
in person. Just let me know if um you
can send them to Natalie, but it's we're
trying to keep them all in one place. Um
and then we like I said, we will be uh
compiling all of the comments um once
the public comment period closes.
Closing June 7th on June 8th, we'll
compile the public comment log. We'll do
all our addressing of the public
comments and then on June 12th when you
receive the final draft of the sense
it'll include that public comment at the
end and how we address them.
>> And this is available on the website.
>> Yep. So this is posted online. We can
share the link out um after the fact.
It's also sitting at the um
Summerssworth, Rochester and Dover City
Halls and the Summers Worth and
Rochester Public Libraries as well. One
of the public service.
>> Thank you. Thank you all. Appreciate it.
Executive Committee SL.
>> Yeah. So every year in June, uh we adopt
or we uh elect, excuse me, uh our
executive committee members as well as
officers.
So each year your executive committee
has just a one-year term. Uh so it is
time to put it out there and say to our
current executive committee members, do
you wish to remain? Um and also um or
anyone else if you are not on the
executive committee but you might want
to join the executive committee to
please reach out. We will um assemble
that slate for you all for your
consideration at the June meeting where
we will conduct our annual business
items.
>> I believe we're currently short two
alternates.
>> We are currently short one alternate.
One alternate. Yes, we have we currently
have a full seven person uh executive
committee and we have one alternate.
Actually, I think we can have three
alternates even. Um so I don't think
there's any problem with that.
>> I don't think our bylaws limit the
number of alternates we make. Um but we
traditionally try to have at least two
>> and the reason we got started late today
is because we were waiting for a quorum
at the executive committee that didn't
get started till 12 minutes after the
hour.
So that few extra alternates would be
handy.
>> How do I put my name down for all
members?
>> You just thought [laughter]
it just did me on the [laughter]
>> instant gratification.
>> Love that. Um I do also want to mention
um that um our June 19th meeting date it
is Junth
um that day. Uh and I know it we kind of
went back and forth uh internally here
because we do for staff have that as a
holiday for our staff. Um ultimately we
decided that there are not that many of
us that need to be present for a meeting
to proceed on as a staff level. Um so
like Mike, myself and Megan uh the core
that will absolutely need to be here um
for that meeting. We are going to um
we're going to schedule our holiday.
We're going to flex our holiday and take
a different Friday in June because what
we recognize is it's a lot easier for a
small number of us to reschedu our day
off than it is to get a forum of you
here. Um, and so we're going to keep the
June 19th date. Um, I guess the question
that I have is does that pose any impact
to you all and your ability to be here?
>> I probably won't be here, but you'll be
okay without me.
>> I'm like 5050.
>> Okay. Stay here's closed.
>> I won't have to be behind buses on the
way here.
>> Yeah. I don't know if the school Oh,
yeah. School should be out.
>> In a row, I made the mistake of
>> not bypassing my school to get here.
>> Grant opportunities.
>> Grant opportunities. I might I might
toss this to Kyle as well here. There
are several different grant
opportunities that are open right now.
They are good ones that we should all be
looking at. Um, wreck trails. Mark, that
due date is coming up very soon, isn't
it?
>> Yes. Actually, I have it here. May 29th.
>> Um, if your community has a trail
project that is trying to work forward,
um, Mark can help you out in with that
application process. um coastal
resilience grants. We only have five
communities in our region who are
eligible for coastal resilience grants.
That's uh Dober, Durham, New Market,
Rollinsford, Madbury.
Um
generally, they're environmental
resilience projects um that that would
be eligible. Um also what we all
affectionately call preparants um those
are open. I know last year we had
Abigail here to do a presentation about
the PREPA grants and we had a really big
window of time to scope out and develop
some projects. This year we do not have
that giant window of time. Um and so
those applications are due mid June. So
if you have a project and you have not
already spoken um to Kyle and our L
environment planning team, I would
encourage you to do so. Um, project
builder is one. Lindsay, you might
actually be able to speak to that one
better than I can or Lisa behind it. So,
it's just a great opportunity if you
have ideas that are sort of need a
little support to go from idea to being
ready to apply to something particularly
around climate or flooding. Um, it's an
opportunity to get a little bit of
support to bringing your idea into more
ideas.
>> Yes. And then um on the source water
protection side um there are land
protection uh grants those are open now
as well and those applications are due
May 28th and that is protect you know
land protection for the purposes of
keeping our drinking water supplies
clean. So wanted to mention those are
out there and available and please reach
out if you have a project that you would
like to partner on. I have a comment
on the recreational
>> Hold on, Ken. We got one person first.
>> On the recreational trail projects, uh I
believe the last I read was about last
week.
the uh prere prerequisite
of uh applying for it. You have to have
attended
a class or a session
by April 29th.
>> I went
>> Mark W.
>> So if you coordinate with Mark, you can
use him as your
>> mark
>> check box.
>> Well, I don't have an issue with that. I
just want to make sure
>> nobody doesn't apply for it. We don't
know anything about it.
>> Oh, so also on the topic of recreational
trails, if um if anybody would like a
letter of support, S Coast Area bicycle
riders, if it has bike or pedestrian
implications, would be happy to um you
know, write write a letter of support
for most types of trails, you know, uh
for most types of purposes. if you're
going to be walking or biking them. So,
um please reach out to me if if you'd
like that or or that could help lend
some uh weight to your to your uh to
your grant. I don't know who's applying
at this point, but I'd be happy to work
with you.
>> Summerssworth
is okay. Well,
>> one them to them ASAP.
>> Yeah, let's let's let's chat. Um, we
we've done this for other organiza other
towns and cities and I'd love to do it
again for anybody in the room. So,
>> my name is Curtis. I'm in Durham. I
can't read your last name. Would you
mind spelling it out for me, please?
>> Absolutely. Uh, McDermott, MCD R
M O TT,
>> thank you. Thank you for that office
support. Do those grants include um
state forest type trails? For instance,
in in Northwood, the crank pullers
maintain it's a motor uh
snowmobile club maintains a lot of
trails in town. Most of it is done
volunteer-wise. Does any of this grant
money help offset their costs? Because
they have all the big groomers and
everything.
>> It's really quite an operation.
>> Yes. Snowmobile clubs are like twothirds
of the applications every year.
>> So, they probably already know that.
>> Yeah, I I mean I can find out, but yeah.
>> Same as same as ATV clubs because I'm a
trail administrator for an ATV club.
>> Y I knew about it.
>> I've applied for them several times.
for
>> I'd like to introduce a new staff
person.
>> Okay,
>> we have Lisa Wise has joined us as a new
staff person. Um
we we we have a bad habit of pilering
staff from our friends. So, I apologize
to Lindsay because
previously Lindsay's coworker at UNHC
Grant um but we are very happy to have
Lisa join us here on our land and
environment team. Um she is jumping
right in and working on several of our
flood resilience related projects. Um
she is the staff planner with Straford
and oh she's gonna be jumping into a few
other students
>> just reminded me of something when you
said UNH student. So um
plane board just had a presentation for
my capstone team on sustainability that
had to do with nature friendly lighting.
Um it is on our our May 13th uh decat uh
if you want to watch it and we are
working on getting all the materials
posted so that they will be sharable.
But that included a
uh sort of a step-by-step users guide
for any anybody whether they're a
resident or a company commercial entity
to be able to walk through their
property and try to decide what the best
choices for lighting are in a way that
would balance human safety and security
with uh nature friendliness
>> regards to circadian rhythms and things
like that. Um I think that's going to be
a really good thing. one of the capstone
members as a uh graduating planning
student who has a job at Upper Valley
RPC
to see that
>> just wanted to share that. I think I
think it would be a very it's going to
become a very useful resource.
>> Can I just uh plug our annual meeting?
Um, I'm sure you're getting uh the
notices for June 25th at the Oaks Golf
Club in Summerssworth, 4:30 to 7:30. We
have two out of three.
>> All three.
>> All three. Okay.
>> Fantastic. So, we um we have the
commissioners from DOT. So that's David
Rodrig um Robert Scott who is the
commissioner of DEES and Lucy Lang is
the commissioner from BEA. So uh we
thought it would be really great to have
sort of high level leadership at those
three state agencies as they sort of
coincide with the RPC MO in EDDD of our
work at the planning commission. Um, so
while we're, you know, overall looking
to celebrate 55 years in planning, we
also wanted to be looking forward. And
so we thought having the perspective of
the leadership of those state agencies
would be a really good way to get their
perspective of where they see the state
going and how the planning commission
can help sort of move along with that
and help municipalities kind of meet
those larger goals. So I think it's
shaping up to be a really great event.
Um, we've, you know, the subcommittee is
working really hard on kind of pulling
some past projects together, how the
region has changed over the last five
decades. Um, and I think that our choice
in speakers is going to be a really
great discussion. So, I hope everybody
can make it. And if you haven't already
registered, please do so.
>> Motion to adjourn. [snorts]
>> Second.
>> One sec. One sec. Sorry. Sorry.
Oh, sorry.
>> I've got one one more comment. Um, so I
just wanted to wish everybody a happy
bike to work day. Um, it is the third
Friday in May every year. It's a little
rainy today. It was the reason I was
late. I was out in Kery handing out free
breakfast to people who work at the
shipyard. Um, but I wanted to invite on
behalf of the Dover Transportation
Advisory Commission and our planning
department, anybody who wants to come by
the Dover Transportation Center today at
400 p.m. We're doing a bike from work
event. So, that's just again a chance to
meet people out who are out riding. Uh,
the weather should be cleared by then.
So, I I hope if anybody wants to go, uh,
I'll I'll be out there with members of
our planning department. Um, and then
also two other opportunities that have
come up in June before our next meeting.
I'll be in Milton on June 3rd discussing
safety for bikes and ebike safety with
the elementary school. So, if I'll
probably pop by city hall and see who's
around uh or town hall on that day and
uh I would love to see people if people
want to chat on June 3rd I'll be in
Milton and June 12th the same topic in
New Durham. uh we'll be talking about
specifically bike safety, but then also
as ebikes become more popular,
especially amongst the youths, uh we
need to talk about ebike safety as well.
So, um just some opportunities if if
you're around and you're in New Durham,
I'd love to I'd love to uh meet in
person. You know, I I will be in the
room with you guys again probably for
the next meeting, but it just uh these
are some cool opportunities to talk
about safety. So, thank you. Sorry.
Sorry to delay. I just some exciting
things happening. So,
>> thank you. Already voted. We're journ