Commission Meeting April 17, 2026

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

Recording

We'll start with introduction. So I have
Paul Ras from Durham, Fergus Register
from Durham, new member. Nice to meet
you.
>> Hey. Uh Mike Leinsky of the city of
Summerssworth Mark Richardson
Summersworth
>> Joe Rochester with Milton Bazard
Middleton
>> Sarah Resman
Rachel statel
man northwood
TV staff
Angelina
>> Mike
and
Lindsy
>> Lindsay Williams do
Steve
>> Steve Peshy University of New Hampshire.
Good morning everyone.
working through getting microphone and
camera access enabled for everybody.
Stand by
>> joining now so I can help
Steve Brown.
>> Hi Steve Brown.
You have a question.
>> Doesn't have mic access.
>> Glen, you have mic access now.
I have mic access so I will go um
Natalie Gemma SRPC
>> we have Lisa and Blair on staff
in the other room. Um, is there another
screen
chair?
>> Uh, Jack,
>> good morning, Zach Wade. New Hampshire.
Yes.
When your mic working or you should have
access now.
>> Can you hear me now?
>> Yep.
Uh Glenn Grisald Nottingham.
>> Thank you.
>> Turn off the AC. The audio is cutting in
and out.
>> Have a number of students joining us
from from New York um to talk about
their work on uh child care. Um you okay
got coming in? Um
would you mind introducing yourself
briefly?
>> Colin, um I think they're going to be
joining us closer to 9:40,
but we'll make sure we do introductions.
>> Yeah. So, okay. Well, they'll do
introductions when they when they they
do their piece. Um did I get anyone? Did
I miss anyone? Don't think I've missed
any commissioners or regular folks.
>> I late introduce myself Casper Lee.
>> We didn't go all the way around.
executive director at SRPC. I'm gonna
just take a quick second to say if you
do not have calendar invites for the
remainder of your meetings, please let
Megan know. We did have seen switch from
Zoom to Teams. Okay. Um and so she had
to um cancel the invites and send the
new invites to replace the old ones. So
um let know you do not have calendars.
Um, Commissioner Roundt,
>> you might have heard in the news that
uh, Velcro is moving their some of their
operations to from Manchester, their
manufacturing operations from Manchester
to Summerssworth. So that's going to be
held in our area.
Okay. Um we'll move on to
fortunately officially open and then
close the public hearing via roll call
to open the
>> second.
All in favor Paul Rmson I trekky
I
>> Mark Richardson I
>> Kate Bazard. I guess I
>> Sarah
>> Steve I
manager I
>> Michael Williams
Lindy.
>> Hi.
>> There it says on hold.
So quite short. Um
uh as you know we have the
>> Oh no. Uh that's the next
Pacifician task.
>> You go to PowerPoint. You can share.
>> Yes. Right. Thank you.
>> One of the many joys of this new switch.
just going to draw this one since he's
there.
Someone seeing the PowerPoint.
Um the transportation improvement
program is the 4-year
batch of projects across the state. uh
well across our region are a little
portion of it um in the region that are
in the relatively final stages of
preliminary engineering right away uh
assessment and construction. Um so those
regularly have adjustments to the
projects. Um, anytime a large financial
change to a project um based on
thresholds or in this case a new project
gets added to the program, it requires a
public um process to amend this 4-year
group of projects. Um, which will be uh
the whole thing will be updated starting
in the fall as soon as the plan is. Um,
my my little metaphor of the assembly
line. This is the the final stages of
the assembly line of projects that
started um 10 plus years ago. Using the
car as a metaphor, we're building the
car starting from a
concept and then it eventually gets on
the assembly line and starts looking
like a car. So, as we're in the tip, um
we're we're getting closer. We're
putting the the outside on and it starts
to look a little a little bit more like
a car. Um, and I have my son draw a
picture of a car every 3 to 6 months
just to see what it looks like. Um, I'm
going to try to switch that to a vehicle
now that the, you know, cars are pretty
visible on the road. So, we'll see what
we'll probably build a rocket ship or
something.
This project uh at US4 and Madbury Road
is being added to the tip. Um this
started as a road safety audit that just
skipped right to uh a regular project to
be put into the tip um because of the
the safety need at the intersection. Um
so it's kind of always been there, but
it's just being elevated to a standing
alone project um moving along. uh
construction got a little boost by 25%.
Um and program for 2027 which is right
around the corner. Um this is the book
end to the Madbury road project which
the town is doing um through other
funding sources locally funded actually.
Um
and please pardon my graphic design
skills. Um, the plan at this point is
for a hybrid roundabout, single lanes
going north to south on Madurie Road and
and double lanes on the US4 approach.
Um, so there there are updated drawings
out there that I didn't have access to,
but this is a general feel of what it'll
look like. Uh, it will require adjusting
the approach on the u eastern quadrant
there that helps kind of slow the
traffic as it enters the roundabout. Um,
that's why that that's curved on that
side. So, that is all that's in the
amendment. Um, any questions on this
project, the amendment process, etc.
>> Doesn't look like that's big enough for
a tractor trailer to get around it. And
that's a very very busy tractor trailer.
>> These are not these are not to scale.
This is a plan a screenshot from a plan
over the lake with a Google map. So, do
not this is not any close to scale. So
the roundabout itself the footprint will
be a little bit bigger than it looks
like on here. I just wanted an
approximation. Um so yes this it and
part of it I believe that there's the
gray center with the darker outer ring.
Um there will be a skirt uh a mounting
skirt like if you go through the silver
street um one in dober it has a and the
one over here in Rochester skirt so that
an articulated truck can cut the inside
of the circle and mount it
standard
Yes,
>> the old guys over here. It's all good.
Okay,
online
motion to close the public hearing.
I move.
>> Second by
>> Mark Richardson.
>> I
bazard. I
>> Steve Stansel. I
>> D man. I
>> reviewing I Williams. Yes.
>> see.
>> Thank you. Uh, William.
And
>> hi.
>> This is just the approval process. Um,
that was just to close the public
hearing. Sorry. Don't blame me. Blame
Robert and his rules. Um I might
object my the minutes and both be
approved with one motion. I don't know
if that's reasonable, but sounds free to
me.
>> Yeah,
>> I move reasonable.
>> I can't move anything.
>> I'll move I'll move to approve the tip
number four and the minutes remarks for
second.
>> Any discussion?
Russia
and yes I
>> Kazard Immer
Sarah I
>> Steve Stansel I
>> manager I
Hi.
>> We got both seats in one go. Thank you.
And uh
ahead of schedule,
we're ahead of schedule. Is your group
ready to go?
They're not on the call right now.
>> Sorry, I thought we were on for 9:40.
Yeah, if you're going to switch the
order and so what would make sense next
step?
>> Yeah.
>> All right, let's move on to the data
snapshot.
>> Uh so today is the uh release of the 26
annual regional data snapshot. Um
this document is uh 185 pages this year.
Um it grows a little bit every year
somehow.
So um it covers over 160 uh data points
for the region.
some of the seasonally nice charts.
Um charts and maps covering uh
demographics, economic vitality, uh
livability,
mobility and accessibility, and
resiliency. Uh you'll see a lot of data
that's in this document across all of
our planning documents. Um, and this
kind of serves as an annual data update
for staff with fullfront as they write
while we're getting things ready for
their specific plans. Um, as well as for
you all to bring back to your
communities and and have discussions
about uh trends that we're seeing. Um,
this year's edition uh is mostly just
updating existing data. Uh we had a
couple of data sources that uh were
either not released on schedule so we
weren't able to have access to them or
um some weather monitoring stations that
state tracks have changed this year so
we had to change what we um I'm just
mindlessly scrolling while I talk I
guess
>> it's all right here. So, um
the
weather monitoring stations, uh they
changed a couple of them, so we had to
change which ones we use, um to
represent the region. Uh
the freight data set comes from Federal
Highway Administration and they
overhauled their database pretty
significantly. So it changed our
workflow for how we get the data and we
thought it was going to amount to
significant changes in the charts but it
looks like Mark got much the same chart
format that we had.
Um and then uh housing data has changed
this year. Um
New Hampshire housing and finance
authorities used to publish uh rental
cost survey and purchase price trend
data annually that was broken out by
town. So we had data for every town in
the region that's no longer shared at
that level. Um and so we had to adjust
some of our housing cost metrics so that
we can have something to represent the
housing cost trends that we're seeing
both the purchase prices and rental
costs. Um so those are the major changes
this year. Um anyone have any questions
>> um for the housing data? What's the
where are we pulling that data from now
since HFA is not?
>> Sure. So for purchase prices, we pulled
data from New Hampshire Association of
Realators. And for rental costs, we just
last week discovered um Zillow has
observed rental cost index that they
they track um apartment listings over
time each time that they're listed and
what that particular unit's cost is over
time. They aggregate that for the area.
Um, so it's definitely not a full
picture
um of rental costs, but the rental cost
survey that New Hampshire housing
publisher was surveying via that as
well. So it wasn't every department
either.
>> Where did they start reporting?
>> Uh Zillow. Uh when did New Hampshire
housing stopped in 24?
>> Um
let me take that one.
>> Yeah, you know that that answer.
>> I do. Um uh there were concerns about
the sample that we were getting and
particularly in the last survey that
housing did. There was also a
um an aggressive group of landlords who
were using it to justify price increases
and were upsettingly stopped doing it.
We I am representing the town new market
right now but I also work at New
Hampshire in the team that does the the
this research project. Um so uh they
were using it to increase and they were
upset when we stopped publishing it
because then they didn't have that data
to go up. So that was one of the two
reasons
>> is it went live at 5 last night so it is
there now.
>> Um it'll it'll be in bits and pieces
this afternoon. Um and you're free to
share it with whoever you'd like. Um we
can print copies of it too. It's very
long. So copies in advance and knowing
who would write one.
>> We don't try.
We don't
>> know.
There's a lot of work here. If only two
people access it. That's unfortunate.
But would it would it be of interest to
Jack?
It's tricky that because it's a PDF um
like a lot of the uh the Google
statistics that we get from the website
don't track PDF opens but we do have the
landing page that is where the link to
the document lives. So we can track uh
usage of that page.
somebody bookmarks the PDF like I do
then I'm not caught
such a very valuable document
Yeah.
>> I'm sharing.
Would there be value in having that
report electronically sent to the
declared candidate both parties
at the end of they have
some force feeding people who policy
decisions if they g if we gave them the
the document from which conclusions can
be factually drawn would there be value
to having do that for all the casings
politicians
said
>> no
in every debate one of the first
questions can be tell us what insight
>> of the SRPC
>> yes
>> data snapshot you found the most
surprising
>> love that
>> well yeah kind enjoy
talking.
>> Yes.
>> I love it.
>> I mean,
if they having
them at least once, you know, you
respond to wherever the friction is,
right? And so giving them this
information
is a way of creating a little minor spot
friction knowing that you will be asked
about this. So you do your homework
>> and I don't know if it's been updated
yet, but if you go on our website and
click on any, if you just say go to the
tab for our communities, you look on
your town, one of the first links there
is a townspecific version of this for
many of the demographic and other trends
like that. So for local decision-
making, you get your own little local
snapshot. Um and internally
uh I think one of the starting um
reasons for having this was multiple
um requests for data of the data team by
separate projects
which got frustrating and and a lot of
wasted time and effort. So now if we
have a master plan or whatever staff can
just go and plug in data that are
readily available. So as far as flow,
even with the amount of work that the
team does to put this together, it's
it's a huge efficiency and resource for
internal but external.
So I I really like this data shot and it
doesn't get nearly the publicity it or
use that I think it should. So uh
requested something. You don't need to
respond to this although you're welcome
to
may remember that I responded eight week
series on ECLU you know how we create
power how we create you know interaction
but those were wildly successful in the
sense of people talking to each other.
people didn't want to leave at 8
o'clock, you know, they hung around.
Now, when was the last time you looked
at electric and you wanted more of it,
right? And so, it was a really good
venue for teasing out information
between community members. So, I can get
the the lodging or the the room again at
the very library. And there somebody
from SRPC that has a full command of the
dand say 10 top conclusions of this
year's report. Um, I think that would be
well attended.
>> I think that it's a good idea.
Come election time. We should probably I
don't know who's going to keep track of
all the people who are running, but even
those candidates were running a copy of
it, too. Kind of levels the table a
little bit.
>> That might be hard to follow. Every town
the secretary of state has everybody
will be declared because you only have
10 days to declare your candidacy in
June. So after that 10 days don't you
know your field of candidates.
>> Certainly any opportunity to promote the
the resource and help get it to people
who can use it benefit regions.
Please send yours together.
>> Thank you, Rachel.
>> I'm still having technical difficulties
getting access for the NYU students to
>> Yeah, I'm doing that. So, it seems like
somehow um everybody's
um mics and cameras were disabled. I
just gone through one by one reenabled
everyone
disabled.
>> Okay,
>> I think we're good now.
>> Can you share your screen?
>> Um,
>> yes. Let me just share it. Um,
can everyone see my screen? Okay,
>> perfect. Thank you, Rachel. And good
morning and thank you all so much for
having us. We're really so excited to
share what we've been working on. And
um, yeah, we are the NYU Wagner Capstone
team and today we'll be presenting our
project strengthening the childcare
ecosystem in the Strford region.
And um our team comes from backgrounds
in public policy, research, and
nonprofit work. And hi, I'm Jod.
>> I'm Anisa.
>> Hi, I'm Sher.
>> I'm Tinder.
>> Nice meeting you all. And we've been
working closely with the SRPC over the
past several months. So with that, I
will jump into the project itself. And
the project is a collaboration between
NYU Wagner and SRPC that examines
childcare supply policy barriers and
business support systems to improve
access to affordable childcare in the
region. And our work builds on the first
phase of SRPC's original childcare
initiative which focused on identifying
key challenges. And in this second phase
we focused on translating those findings
into actionable strategies and
implementation oriented recommendations.
And to guide that work we structured the
project around a few key objectives.
And the first one is identifying gaps in
childcare supply and accessibility. And
for this part, we use data from Carsey
School of Public Policy. And second is
assessing zoning and regulatory barrier
in collaboration with the New Hampshire
Office of Planning and Development. And
third, evaluating business support
resources for providers working with New
Hampshire Community Development Finance
Authority, CDFA. And last one,
developing a financing resource guide
for Stratford Economic Development
Corporation, SEDDC, to improve childcare
providers access to capital. And
together, these allowed us to have a
picture of um childcare system from
multiple dimensions like supply, policy,
and support infrastructure. And to
answer these questions, we used a mix of
data analysis and stakeholder input.
Our
methodology included four major
component. First, we analyze childcare
supply demand and capacity across the
region to better understand where gaps
exist and how they vary by county rather
than treating child care shortage as a
single regional issue. Second, through
surveys and stakeholder conversations,
we gathered perspectives from providers,
community partners, and another involved
in the childcare ecosystem. The survey
focused especially on CDFA's small
business resources for family childcare
providers, and respondents were also
invited to one-on-one follow-up
conversations for deeper feedback.
This helps us understand how people
actually experience exiting resources
and what barriers they face in practice.
Third, we conducted a zoning audit
across 18 municipalities and compared
local ordinances with the requirements
of HB567
to identify whether local regulatory
barriers still limited homebased child
care. Finally, we work with regional
partners to develop a childcare
financing resources guide with a goal of
making complex and fragmented funding
pathways easier for providers to
understand and navigate.
We have four key findings from our
research on childcare ecosystem in the
stressful region. First, child care
supply does not consistently meet demand
across the region. Some communities have
more providers while others have very
limited options. So for many families,
the challenge is not just whether
childcare exists, but whether it is
available in a convenient and reliable
location.
The map on the right side reinforces
this important funding. Provider
distribution is uneven. Lesson providers
are concentrated in more urbanized
municipalities such as Rochester, Dover
and Sssworth where more rural
communities like Wakefield, Brookfield
and Middle 10 have few or no lessened
providers. This means many families have
to travel outside their own communities
to find care, adding time and uh
transportation burdens and making
workforce participation even border even
harder. Um second zoning rules and
financing barriers limited provider
growth and sustainability
in several municipalities.
Local zoning still creates obstacles for
homebased childcare providers. In
addition, many providers face financial
challenges where when trying to start,
expand or sustain their op operations.
This means that improving childcare
access is not only about increasing
demand but also about removing barriers
that make it harder for providers to
operate.
Third, child care costs are unaffordable
for many families. From the family
perspective, child care can be so
expensive that it become a serious
financial burden, especially for
lowincome and single parent households.
In these situations, parents may reduce
working hours, turn down employment
opportunities or leave the workforce
altogether because the cost of care with
the benefit of paid work. At the same
time, provider also face a high
operating cost. In another world, child
care is often too expensive for families
and at the same time not uh sufficiently
profitable for providers. Fourth,
business supports resources are
available but difficult to access the
use. Existing resources
existing resources have can be helpful,
but many are too technical, too ling, or
hard to navigate. As a result, support
may exist, but it is not always easy for
providers to actually use it uh
effectively. Overall, these findings
show that childcare is not just an issue
of the number of slots available. It is
a border ecosystem challenge in
involving access, regulation,
affordability, and provider support. to
strengthen their child care system. The
region needs a more coordinated approach
and supports both families and
providers.
Thank you, Sherry. And um to better
understand the regional landscape, we
analyzed childcare supply and demand. So
beauty on what Sher just showed, even
before we looked at overall supply and
demand, access to childcare is already
unevenly distributed across the region.
And um to understand how big that gap
actually is, we then looked at the
overall balance between demand and
licensed child care service loss across
the SRPC region. And we used the number
of children under six as a baseline for
potential need, which is 8582. And just
to note, this is based on children under
six living with parents or guardians in
the ACS data. So it's an estimate of
demand rather than a precise count. And
to do that, we apply a 65% participation
rate, which reflects a share of children
likely to rely on non-parental child
care. And this results in an estimated
demand of approximately 5578
children compared 4638 license loss in
the region. And this suggests original
shortfall even before considering
program type mismatches.
And this gap isn't just a number. It
represents family who may not be able to
find formal care and may need to rely on
informal care or reduce working hours or
leave the workforce altogether. And in
New Hampshire, thousands of residents
report being out of the labor force due
to child care needs. And when we look
more closely at changes over time, we
can better understand why gaps persist.
Between 2024 and 2025, growth in
childcare capacity has been modest.
Family- based capacity increased only
slightly while the number of family
childcare providers declined and
center-based capacity increased but
without an increase in the number of
programs which which suggests expansion
within existing providers rather than
new program development. And what's
important is that this gap persists not
because demand is unclear but because
supply isn't expanding at the same pace
which ties back to the barriers we
identified around zoning financing and
technical support. Like although HB567
was passed to reduce zoning barriers and
expand childcare supply, early data from
2024 to 25 do not yet show significant
increases in programs or capacity. And
this suggests that additional support
beyond regulatory changes may be needed
to help providers start or expand. And
that has implication not just for access
but also for affordability.
And this is another key dimension of the
childare system using the average child
care price in New Hampshire from 2024.
Centerbased child care for an infant
would use 18% of a Struffford County
family. And there is a greater burden on
single parent households and renter
households whose income is typically
lower than the county's median. And what
this tells us is that for many families,
especially those with lower or single
incomes, child care is not just
expensive. It can be financially out of
reach. And at the same time, this isn't
simply a pricing issue. Childcare is a
highly labor intensive sector and many
providers are operating on very tight
margins just to cover costs. Often
unable to operate at full capacity due
to staffing shortages with some
facilities operating at around 85% of
licensed capacity. So even when capacity
exists on paper, providers may not be
able to fully utilize it. So here is a
structural tension. Child care is
unaffordable for many families but not
necessarily profitable for providers and
this dynamic makes it even harder to
expand supply because the system itself
is financially constrained on both
sides. So what we are seeing here is not
just a supply issue but a broader
economic constraint where childcare
availability affordability and um
workforce dynamics are all
interconnected and um which makes it
even more important that support system
for providers are working effectively
and that's where our work with CDFA
comes in. In collaboration with CDFA, we
evaluated the small business resources
for family child care providers and
these include guides on starting a
business, ma managing finances and
running operations. All of which are
important for providers at different
stages and CDFA was particularly
interested in understanding the
usefulness, accessibility, and
effectiveness of these resources in
practice. And to support this, we
conducted a survey and follow-up
outreach with providers and stakeholders
to get a clearer picture.
And from our outreach, many stakeholder
found that resources helpful, especially
the main guide and financial tools.
However, respondents also noted that
materials can be lengthy, technical, and
difficult to navigate. And um another
finding was that some existing materials
do not reflect realistic startup costs.
Survey respondents and stakeholders
pointed out that expenses like fencing,
insurance, equipment, and licensing
requirements can substantially raise the
cost of starting a family childcare
business. This is also where CDFA sought
input on potential funding needs and
stakeholders viewed small grants of
around 5K to 10K as potentially
meaningful support for startup and
operational improvements, though larger
capital needs may require more
substantial assistance. And um there was
also interest in more hands-on technical
assistance such as mentorship or
consultants guided support.
And for our third part of the project,
in collaboration with the new New
Hampshire Office of Planning and
Development or APD, we developed and
conducted a zoning ordinance audit
across SRPC municipalities to assess
compliance with HB567 and identify
regulatory barriers to homebased
childcare. To grow our analysis, we
begin with HB 1567, a 2024 state law
that took effect in September 2024. The
law establishes the baseline for how
municipalities should regulate childare.
This house bill requires municipalities
to allow child care in any residential
areas in order to reduce regulatory
barriers and expand supply. The law
makes this explicit. Family and group
family childare must be allowed as an
accessory use to any primary residential
use and cannot be subject to site plan
review in zones where residential use is
permitted. Municipalities may allow this
uses either by right or through a
conditional use permit. To assess how
this is implemented in practice, we
conducted a zoning audit across 80
municipalities comparing local ordinance
directly to these requirements. We focus
on approval process where childcare is
allowed and whether additional
regulatory conditions create barriers.
From this analysis, we found that
compliance varies significantly, but the
issues fall into consistent patterns.
First, many municipalities still require
discretionary approvals such as sland
review or special exceptions which
directly contradict the intent of the
law. Second, in some cases, childcare is
not explicitly permitted or is defined
unclearly, which can effectively
prohibit it under zoning rules. Third,
childcare is not always allowed across
all residential contacts, limiting where
providers can operate. And finally, some
municipalities regulate childcare under
home occupation professions. This is not
necessarily a problem if these rules do
not introduce operational constraints
such as parking requirements, traffic
limits or lots standards that restrict
normal childcare pro operations and
limit practical visibility. These
findings reinforce the recommendation
identified in the first phase of the
project. Building on both phases and in
collaboration with OPD, we develop a
model zoning ordinance that allow
childcare by right treats it as a
resident use and minimizes unnecessary
barriers while still maintaining
essential health and safety standards.
The model also supports municipalities
in more explicitly integrating childcare
into their zoning frameworks.
Our analysis differs slightly from
district level approaches such as the
San Ansom childcare study. While both
ultimately classify municipalities as
compliant or non-compliant, the
difference lies in how they
classification is determined. District
level analysis measure the proportion of
zoning districts that allow childcare
which capture variation within a
municipality. In contrast, our approach
evaluates compliance at the municipal
level by re reviewing the zoning
ordinance as a whole and assessing
whether the regulator framework aligns
with HB1567.
Because of this, differences in result
may occur. For example, a municipality
may allow child care in some districts
but still impose restrictions or
exclusions elsewhere that make the
overall ordinance non-compliant. Our
approach helps identify whether these
issues stem from the structure of the
ordinance itself. So while zoning
addresses regulatory barriers, we also
look at another key challenge. In our
fourth part of the project in
collaboration with Straford Economic
Development Corporation or SEDDC, we
focus on helping providers navigate
financial barriers that affect their
ability to enter and grow in the market.
In addition to regulatory barriers,
access to financing is another major
challenge for childcare providers.
providers often face difficulty
navigating comp sorry complex and
fragmented funding options which can
make it harder to start or expand their
businesses. To address this, in
collaboration with SEDC, we develop a
financing resource guide that
consolidates available funding
opportunities and provides a clear
step-by-step pathway for accessing
capital. The guide includes tools such
as finding readiness cycle as well as an
overview of relevant programs helping
providers better understand how to
prepare for and for and successfully
secure financing.
Uh this is the example of our uh finding
resources.
Okay. page please. So based on all of
our findings, we developed four
recommendations to strengthen the child
care ecosystem in the Straford region.
Each recommendation uh address a
different structural barrier identified
through our research and include
practical implementation actions. Our
first recommendation is to reduce
regulatory barrier to provider entry.
Although HB1567
establishes a priorative state level
framework, our zoning audit shows that
municipal implementation remains
inconsistent. To address this, regional
partners such as SRPC can play a more
active role by disseminating the model
or model ordinance across municipalities
using zoning audit findings to identify
where updates are needed and providing
technical assistance to support more
municipalities in aligning their
audience with state requirement.
Second, we recommend improving provider
access to start up and grow capital.
Even motivated providers cannot expand
without sufficient financing. Many faces
many faces substantial startup and
operational cost while struggling to
navigate fragmented finding system. To
address this, stakeholders should
disseminate the financing resource guide
we developed. Pair financing
opportunities with readiness and
technical assistance and explore local
startup grant or micro grant program to
help providers overcome early stage
financing barriers. Third, business
support system should be redesigned for
usability. Our survey suggests that
although existing CDFA resources are
valuable, usability and accessibility
gaps limit their effectiveness.
Resources are often too long, too
technical or difficult to navigate for
new providers. simplifying resource
materials, adding road maps there,
checklist and visual guides or improving
multi- lingual accessibility would make
this to more practical and accessible.
Finally, we recommend building ongoing
provider support infrastructure.
Survey respondent consistently
emphasized that writen materials alone
are not enough. Many prospective
providers need direct guidance and human
support to navigate licensing, business
planning and financial management.
Creating mentorship and peer learning
networks establish stronger regional
technical assistance coordination and
proisioning SRPC and partner
organizations as ecosystem learners. uh
conveners could help provide this
sustainable support together. This
recommendation move beyond simply
increase child care slot. They aim to
strengthen the broader ecosystem that
determine whether providers can
successfully enter, sustain and grow in
the child care market.
So to conclude, our project shows that
child care is essential to regional
economic growth, but the current
ecosystem in the Stratford region remain
uneven. While some areas, especially
Straford County, show relatively
strength in total capacity, significant
challenges remain in access,
affordability, distribution, regulation,
and provider support. Address these
barriers require more than increasing
the number of slots. It require
strengthening the full system around
child care provision. Our research
suggests that meaningful progress will
come from coordinated action across
municipalities, regional partners and
support organizations
by reducing zoning barriers, improving
access to financing, simplifying
business resources, and expanding
technical assistance.
the region can create a more sustainable
child care ecosystem for providers,
families, and employers.
Finally, we'd like to acknowledge the
many partners who supported this work
along the way. We'd like to thank our
partners at SRPC, especially Natalie
Jama and Rachel Dwi, Jessica Carson at
University of New Hampshire, Kash School
of Public Policy, and Noah Hajs and Tim
Corwin at OPD. We're also grateful to
SEDC, CDFA, and Professor Egan for their
support. Thank you. We're looking
forward for the discussion.
>> If I can quickly um jump in, I just
wanted to expand on the team's
presentation on the zoning audit. um the
childc care model ordinance that was
developed in collaboration with OPD that
was meant to provide municipalities with
guiding language to help them modify
their regulations and ensure that they
meet the basic requirements of HP567.
Um as Ana mentioned in her presentation
under this legislation homebased care is
to be allowed by right or pursuant to a
conditional use permit as an accessory
to any primary residential use. it
cannot be subject to site plan review or
a special exception and municipalities
can no longer um limit this use to
single family residences. Um so even
though the legislation was passed in
2024 just for regional context as of
March of this year there were still 11
municipalities in the Stratford region
that were identified as needing one or
more updates in order to achieve
compliance with HB1567.
So, um, yeah, I I'll just also mention
that beyond the model ordinance language
in this tool, it also includes some best
practices and some recommendations that
go beyond the minimum requirements of
HB1567.
And they're intended for those
municipalities that are looking to take
additional steps um to reduce barriers
to homebased care. So, for example, that
includes um permitting care by right
versus pursuant to a conditional use
permit and avoiding regulating programs
as home occupations since doing so can
create unnecessary barriers.
I'll also mention that the tool um it
also directs communities to some of the
different resources that have been
developed by state and regional
partners. Um and lastly, I'll just
mention that the implementation of this
work will continue with support from a
CDFA grant um that we got which will
help fund municipal technical assistance
to help communities um update their
local regulations. So that is um the
next step for us
and I'll open it up to any questions.
>> Yeah. Um, I think I heard that there
were 11 communities in our region that
had not changed their regulations from
the 2024.
Was there any particular reason why did
they not know about it until you
informed them or how did how did that
come about?
>> I can take that. Um, I do think it's a
probably a combination of not knowing.
I think
the the zoning audit it showed the I
guess the issues vary in size. So some
of them are pretty small like issues
with definitions um not matching and
then other ones are some of the bigger
regulatory things such as still
requiring site plan review. Um, so I
think I think yeah, the short answer is
probably they just haven't they didn't
know.
>> Did you Did you get any sense that
they're going to be changing it?
So that part of the pro we'll we'll get
a better sense going forward because um
this up to this part of the project the
students have been focused on doing
zoning audits of um ordinances to better
understand but we haven't really gotten
to that point where we're doing the
outreach to inform them what specific
changes need to be made. Um so I I mean
we have we in this past um amendment C
zoning amendment season there were three
or four municipalities in our region
that did update their zoning ordinances
to become compliant with the new
legislation. So I think that there is an
appetite from our communities to do
those updates. Um but yeah, still to
more to come I guess as we move into
this next phase of the project and start
doing some of the more targeted outreach
to communities.
>> Yeah. So I'll just um piggy back on on
what Natalie alluded to is we do have a
grant from CDFA
um that we just got the contract for
yesterday. Um so um so we do have
funding and resources to work with
municipalities to draft those updates.
Uh and it'll also have uh outreach and
engagement component uh to have broader
conversations about childare issues and
what they so excited um to have that. So
it's going to be kicking off fairly soon
as soon as we can get the context out of
the quicks which will probably be
Tuesdays my guess. um because staff work
part time on that side of things.
>> Shen relative to the funding you just
alluded to, will the town automatically
be notified that's available or
>> Yeah, we can do that. Yes, we'll be
reaching out.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah. And I think um you know as the
students here are wrapping up their work
um part of what we'll be doing is
sharing out more broadly the results of
that sharing out the model ordinance uh
and and what have you. So we'll
definitely be reaching out to
communities.
>> Uh where do I look this evening?
>> Yeah. Black robot. Okay. Good. God
robot. Uh, hey, good or good morning. My
name is Curtis uh out of Durham. I just
want to say, hey, thank you very much
for putting this presentation together.
The four the four presenters. I think
you guys did a fantastic job uh
identifying the problem and giving some
actionable uh recommendations.
I can't unfortunately read uh the
presentation documents. So, I I'm
looking forward to going
getting a better approval by the group.
But as I heard uh what you got going on,
I I definitely appreciate the uh
provider focused and municipal focused
recommendations particularly with the
model zoning ordinance. That is
definitely going to be of value. Uh my
question is uh did you interrogate any
uh uh tax incentivization uh tactics
that could be employed uh either at the
state, county or u municipal level by
chance?
>> Sorry, can you repeat that question?
>> Yes. Uh did you guys look into or
identify any tax incentive relief that
can be utilized either at the state,
county or local level to either assist
providers or to uh assist struggling uh
you know single parent or rental
parents?
I I don't want to speak for the team,
but as far as I know, the research that
uh was conducted did not include looking
into tax incentives.
>> Natally, did last year's the first phase
of work um include some case studies. I
believe
>> um there were some case studies from
other states.
>> Yeah. Yes. Um there was actually an they
they explored um I believe I don't
remember I think this might have been
Vermont but they looked into um I
believe it was a a sales tax increase um
and what that it was a very small
increase and um I they did the math on
what that would translate to as far as
uh providing funding to support child
care in New Hampshire. Um,
>> is that case study accessible somewhere?
>> Yes, we do have that online. Um, when I
share all of the resources and the
deliverables, we can also include a link
to last year's um, capstone, NYU
capstone that worked on that. So, I can
definitely share that with you.
>> Awesome. Hey, thank you. And again,
fantastic job, guys.
Let's see.
Yeah, I'll just echo that. Really,
really fantastic research presentation.
Um, thanks to um the student team and
also all the partners that supported
this is just so valuable and really um
timely in conversations that are going
on throughout our region. So, just
really appreciate um the wheels are
turning in my brain. So, um that's
always a a good sign. And so it might I
might not have the most articulate
question, but um I guess one of the
things that I was curious again just as
as you all are wrapping up this project
um and any of the the four of you can
take this or you can um skip if you are
not interested, but was just curious if
there were any sort of nuggets that
really um struck stood out to you or
really resonated um with any of you um
in terms of um your own interests and
and just sort of what you found
interesting learning about our region
and about the the challenges and
opportunities here.
>> Yeah. I think what's really interesting
of us is this new past HB567
which totally changed um the situation
from our previous previous group of
capstone and um but since it only took
effect last year, we are not really
seeing major changes in program growth.
And yeah, we are just thinking what
could be the policy changes need to pair
with financing and um technical support
to really move the needle. I think
that's something we're really interested
in because again we are policy major
students. So yeah, I would say that
that's that really stand out to us.
But thank you for the question, Lindsy.
>> Excellent. Thank you so much for the
work.
policy. Have you looked at this and may
not be part of your scope. Have you
looked at the economic impact of this so
that if people can't work, they're
removed from the uh employment base,
what the potential impact of all that
is.
I know there's other there have been
other studies on that but it did not
sound like it was in scope here though
it'll be interesting if James to look at
link somehow link that because I think
this work is great it's fantastic but
>> it it usually some economic team
>> I think the EA
>> the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy
Institute I think did this most recently
Yeah,
>> pulled up here.
>> Oh,
>> sorry if I can just interre quick. Yes,
to Jen's New Hampshire Fiscal Policy
Institute does have a lot of research on
the economic impacts. I will say um face
uh so the previous NYU grad students
that worked on this last year, their
work was more focused on um research uh
researching the economic impacts of the
child care shortages and also looking at
case studies and recommendations. So it
was sort of like this this fa the second
phase that we're currently on is more of
like the implementation phase of the
findings of that work. But when I send
that link um of the previous project,
you can find more information on the
region's economic impacts for the
shortage of childare.
>> Um this is going to be longwinded
commentary before I get to my question.
Um, but I think that there was one input
that was missing in terms of not talking
about staffing and the need for
additional people to actually expand the
capacity. Um, especially when the
University of New Hampshire is actively
going through every program uh that's
available. And last year there was a
large debate and discussion on campus
around keeping CSDC open. Um, I'm
wondering if it was in scope to look at
staffing and do some sort of review of
um, enrollment.
>> Excuse me. CSC.
>> Oh, I actually don't know what it stands
for. It's the
>> It's
child studies and development.
>> Yes, thank you. It's the essentially the
daycare on campus um, open to staff,
faculty, but also the broader community.
So, it's one of the only childcare
facilities in Durham. um and was
potentially due to UNH's financial
issues um looking at either being closed
or um offloaded to a private company. Um
and it's a large feeder program for our
human development and family studies and
early childhood education students um to
have somewhere to be placed. Um, and so
I would be curious to know about the
impacts of like enrollment trends both
at UNH um, and other local institutions
as well as I think it could be uh,
beneficial statewide. Um, and then
actual graduation trends and the capture
of those students. um because we are
having an enrollment decline. But there
are also programs that are individually
having their own enrollment cliffs.
>> So my initial question was did you look
at staffing?
I know.
>> Um I can I can also take that um during
this phase they didn't look into
staffing. The prior cohort um looked a
little bit more into the staffing
challenges and why
why it's hard to recruit. Um it's I mean
the truth is it's a demanding it's
demanding labor like caring for for that
many children is is hard and um they
also looked at wages in Stratford County
and it's just really low wages. So in
2024 um the median
the median salary for childare workers
was 1540 an hour or 32 a little over
32,000 a year. So intensive labor, not
great pay. Um so that that's definitely
one of the like pillar issues of the
whole um system.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
There anything more you want to say
before they
go?
>> All right.
>> No, just thank you everyone and we'll be
sending those materials to everyone.
Thank you for having us so much.
>> Item is the public grant.
>> Yeah. So, I know last year we had um
ago we had Abigail join us do a full
presentation on the proper grants that
are available and that we had a like
almost like a six-month lead up between
when they announced them and when they
were actually due. Little bit faster of
a turnaround um this year. uh but wanted
to to make sure everyone was aware that
uh there is a new round of prep grants
open and available. Uh we are looking
for project ideas to submit uh similar
to last year. You know we can expect
that they will probably make awards to
four to six different communities. Um
projects uh budgets can range from about
5,000 to 25,000.
uh they've got a
a a list of categories uh in your packet
in the memo. We've listed out the
different categories of funding um that
are available. And I apologize we do not
put the due date in the memo. I know it
is in June. Um so just wanted to kind of
get that out there so that everyone is
aware that this funding uh opportunity
is open and available looking for
potential projects that we can partner
with. Thank you, Colin. Her millennial
is up on the screen. Um, I'll also
mention that since putting the member
together, uh, dees have also announced
the coastal resilience grants. Um, in
our region, there are only five
municipalities that are eligible for,
um, the coastal resilience grants. So
that'd be, uh, Durham, Jover, New
Market, Maverick, and Rollinsford. Uh so
a similar project size and scope a
slightly larger budget under the coastal
resilience grants. Um coastal resilience
grants while they don't require match um
strongly recommend match. So you can
read that to say you need to have match
to be competitive. Um but in kind
matches is allowed. The prepa grants
there is no match requirement at all. Um
I think that was the main thing. We just
want to make sure that that everyone
knew that the these funding
opportunities are open and available and
uh if you are looking to partner with
with us on a project, we are happy to do
the grant writing for you um and get
that in.
I'm not sure how this money gets
delineated out, but one of the things I
heard on my way here this morning that
the eel grass on the coast has has
decreased dramatically the number of
acreages
um
>> it's almost
it's down tremendously.
>> Yeah. Are these grants to help um put
money towards research on why we lost so
much yield grass or are they more to
protect help protect pieces of property
so they don't get developed?
>> Yeah, it could it could be more towards
the the protection side. I don't know if
the dollars can go towards actual land
protection, but I think they can go
towards um like the getting things lined
up and queued up for for land
protection. Um but those are good
question that we could dig into. Um,
both of these funding opportunities are
ones where um the the grant staff we can
reach out to during the project
development process before submitting an
application to kind of run things by
them and help scope and and get a feel
for um what is is fundable.
It's a total non-ans answer to your
question
>> and I totally didn't understand the
answer to my question but I didn't
understand the question about the answer
>> also septic systems
>> towns like Wakefield and Milton and
Northwood
>> with septic issues with their bodies of
water I know towns have changed some
zoning laws I know we did in Northwood
how is this the monitoring is to
where money could be well spent
um without raising a complete political
uproar.
>> Correct. Because the people who own the
properties don't want to be monitored
because they know that they have to
spend $50,000 to put a new system in
>> into their 500 bazillion dollar house.
>> Yes. Um
understood. Um
answer that question. I'll just leave.
All right. I'm out.
>> And also on the flip side, one of the
challenges with septic ordinance and the
reasons I've heard some communities kind
of pushing back on even um making the
effort is is the administration. Uh so
you you so for those not familiar with
septic ordinances um typically a septic
ordinance it is well one it's adopted as
a health ordinance. So it is under the
select board or C council city council
purview. Um so it's typically a buffer
around the water body
and would require that any properties uh
along the water body if you have a
septic system that you periodically need
to have it inspected uh and pumped. And
if you're failing it will flag and
identify a system that might be failing.
hopefully before it fails and
contaminates the water body. Um and then
uh yes, the homeowner would be required
to repair uh a system that is failing.
Um the challenge on the municipal side
is is monitoring that uh and uh having
the staff to
get those certifications in from the
homeowners. And so that is one thing
that I have heard as a is a reason why
some are not willing to necessarily do
that because they don't have the staff
capacity to take on the additional
tasks. Um so that is definitely one of
the things I have heard. On the other
hand though um I think we can all agree
that we really want to find out that the
system is failing before it does and
before there is contamination that means
one is used to our waterways that we
love to swim in. Um so it's just a kind
of ganky. Uh so
>> Sarah was next.
I was just curious if you could tell us
about some of the uh successful prepar
grants from the last round.
>> Yes. Um we put in four and we were
funded for three, but for full
disclosure, Prepare Prep only funded a
total of four um during that grant
round. So I guess they couldn't give us
all of them.
Middleton was the poor one that that um
that didn't get selected from our
region. Um so we have of the three that
we currently have all three are a little
bit different. So um Barington is septic
is doing a septic ordinance. Um that is
drafted and then we're going through
their storm water regulations.
um the Barington um the town of Straford
uh not nec not the septic ordinance but
we have done um or we're in the process
of doing Rachel's working on septic risk
analysis so we have pulled every septic
system permit that is available at DEOS
and any files that are in municipal
files for septic systems around the lake
um that is mapped with those conditions
and then it's looking at um those
systems relative to um soil uh soil
speed to identify where there's higher
risks uh and do essentially a hotspot
analysis. Um that that is what we're
doing with uh town of Straford that's
feeding into a larger watershed
management planning process that has
other funding sources that are being
pulled to complete that larger project.
Um and then the town of Nodingham is
preparing um their natural resources
master plan chapter. So those are the
three that are currently I will say
though um just some semi-related
Middleton we pulled in some of what was
not funded in your PREPA grant into a
great bank 2030 project that is about to
kick off. um that is to do some nutrient
reduction um projects in the upper
watershed. It's a bit of a a smoresborg
or omnibus uh grant that has lots of
different projects from many different
municipalities bundled into it. So,
>> uh this goes back to the septic
ordinance question. Um y'all Curtis, uh
so I'm sure there's a decent amount of
accents loosely figured out. I'm not
originally from New Hampshire. I'm
actually from North Carolina. Uh, and
I've done my fair share of swimming and
some septic runoff with Paul Wash and
and farmers uh dumping in my local
rivers. And so D is worried about their
own septic failure stuff. And my
question is, does SPRC have a u a
recommended model septic ordinance
whether it's in the state or without
that I could use as a lily pad to figure
out what works best for?
Um yes, I would say not necessarily as a
model, but I would say the work that we
did in Northwood and the work we just
recently completed in Bington um both
use kind of some of the more more
emergent approaches to um
>> yeah,
>> one of the inherent problems with water
bodies, they share town lines
>> and if all the towns aren't on the same
wavelength,
you got a problem because these guys
over here are ethnoseptic in line that's
getting pin and over here it's like do
whatever the hell you want and so the do
do whatever the hell you want. Those
people are are putting their hogwash and
and so you don't win by having a strong
in one town and not strong in the other
town.
>> Yeah. I will say about septic systems um
and town septics system. There's there's
a few towns within New Hampshire that
already have these systems in place.
>> And if you if you just Google it or AI,
they'll bring up, I don't know, 10 maybe
10 communities and you can look at those
ordinances and you can look what they
went through. We're going to start our
own project at Middleton.
Um and uh the administrative part can be
a challenge. Uh the other challenge is
the political part of it uh is probably
number two. Um but there are plenty of
plans out there to take a look. Some are
very complex,
some are very simple. Uh New Durham has
a great little plan.
>> Yeah. which is next to us. So, and but
you're right, the the uh the
administrative part can be challenged. I
think smaller communities can work
through it. Just how you design it and
who does the enforcement. I will note
the um the Bington and the Northwood
ordinances are more recent than the new
Durham and they reflect um some changes
that DEES was making to the subsurface
uh administrative rules. So there's
there's a little bit of nuance there.
Um just uh Don, you were mentioning and
we had a conversation a little bit ago
about eelgrass and the great bay and
kind of what's happening. Got my take on
it. It's over the last say five years
plus or minus a lot of us in
municipalities that eventually discharge
to the great bay particularly with point
source or wastewater treatment have made
significant improvements.
Portsouth as an example, $100 million
upgrade to their brand new plan and
we're seeing progress there. City
Summers worth on the throws of investing
$23 million in our wastewater treatment
plant this year, probably another
20 30 million after that to address
growth and some other things. Um, do
made improvements and so forth. So we're
all keeping up on that and I think the
science shows results positive results
there. The challenge I think problem is
a so-called nonpoint source or runoff
drainage flooding maybe septics as well
but to some degree I think that's the
challenge as to what we're seeing more
science than that but
>> it's not just septics. Yes, I I agree.
And I think this whole issue of the
storm water, the pollutant loading and
the runoff is where we're at. I think
that's
>> chemicals on lawns.
>> Yeah. Those kinds of things, nitrogen.
So, how do we do and that's that's a
real tough storm water utilities,
ordinances,
other kinds of procedures that we're
working toward in that area with MS4
requirements. Some people waste
>> my just the amplified intercourse went
on point. My wife is on medication
that requires refrigeration.
>> And so when they get shipped, the bottle
itself is about half the size of my
pump, but it comes packed in these bags
that they advertise. Can be used on your
guy, can be used, you know, flower beds
and the like. really intense fertilizer
these ice bags and so you get four of
them every time you know once a month we
get these and they start to pile up.
What are you doing?
>> And so that's an example.
>> I'll just say we'll send out after the
meeting we'll do our usual post meeting
brief. um will include some information
about both the PREPA and the coastal
resilience grants. If you are interested
in pursuing either of those um please
reach out to Kyle
just or or myself um and we are happy to
help move those along.
We don't know
Thank you.
Do we have any other business?
I guess I'll just note that um post did
put out a press release that we are uh
proposing increasing the bears on the
bus from about 50 to2
which would be the first fair increase
in 2008. Uh so that's going through a
public comment period that's starting
now.
Did you calculate what inflation would
have put the rate at now? Probably more
than two.
>> There's been a monthly just about debate
at the board for a while. For a while,
yes, we would be uh we would still be
below the inflation adjusted rate from
2018.
>> Yeah.$2
would be matching most other systems.
just to plant a seed and it's not in our
our region happens to be a Cany or
Chester issue but as more of these large
tracks of land get opened up a potential
development.
a developer wants to um develop 187
acres with 29 houses right on the
Chester Candia line with the only access
to the property in Candier and it's
creating a huge political thing and it's
going to happen in other towns I'm just
putting I mean it's a subject that we
could do a whole meeting on
that's going to impact not just the
environment so much but all the little
side roads that don't have center lines
or anything they're just little 20 foot
wide things and you're adding, you know,
100 cars a day to a very small road and
towns to deal with that from the
planning standpoint.
>> Well, that that would be a regional
impact, I would think.
>> it's a political football. I can tell
you that.
My family still owns property in Candy,
so that's why I have an eye on that
particular ball.
I just with my other hat I will speak
about uh energy week is the first week
of May and there's going to be a ton of
great events. Um I know Senator Shaheen
will be there um for our signature
event. We'll have um tours in Bington of
AUS and Energy Homes. There'll be all
kinds of online and inerson events. So
just check out um New Hampshire energy
week event.
I just wanted to add for the group
adding on to Michael's comment uh UNH uh
has been uh coordinating with coast and
we will adjust our wildcat transit hash
bears uh to match coast when they do
make that change.
Rick Healey of Rochester Planning Board.
And yes, I have with developers of large
tracks that were just
up to 180 units.
The roads were ready. the plane board
can demand developer to upgrade the
roads leading to it. So it's up to your
local board to step up
need to upgrade the roads. Most pieces
they actually have put in sidewalks
but depending where you are at the
sidewalk to nowhere
wouldn't work in that situation,
>> right?
>> But a road a single lane road would need
to be uh
pulled up and reconfigured to
accommodate two lanes and you can demand
that from the developer. The developer
doesn't like it.
It's a bit harsh, but and that's the
political.
>> It's called an exaction
>> we have those requirements quite often
>> for public safety reasons, sidewalks and
whatever else.
We need we need this
come to an agreed amount of money that
they would contribute to that to do that
>> Sometimes a developer has to cut back on
180 down to 160.
>> Lindsay online.
>> Yeah, I was just going to share quickly.
Um I put them in the chat and if they're
appropriate for newsletters or anything
as well. Um I'm not directly involved
Oh, clearly
you're sorry.
>> Mute back in one second.
>> Okay, I think my mic's back. Camera's
not, but I can just talk. Um, I should
say I'm not directly involved, but the
city nature challenge is coming up um
later this month. um nature conservancy
is helping coordinate um and sort of
just make resources available. Um and so
it's a great way there's a couple
activities in our region um just way to
sort of get out, experience nature, be
connected to other people. Um uh and and
lots of great opportunities. So Google
the city nature challenge or or check
out those links. Um and then this one's
do specific, but I know several other
communities in our region also have um
volunteer don't trash groups. Um, but
don't trash do on April 25th is doing
what's called the power of an hour where
everybody volunteers in each of our
voting wards. You come out for an hour.
Um, you pick up as much trash as
possible and it's a a healthy
competition between each of the wards to
see who can gather the most trash. Um,
this will be our third year with that
running. Um, and so it's just a great
opportunity. So, selfishly, if anybody
wants to come to Dover on the 21st, come
to Ward 4 and then our ward can win. Um,
but I know I know several other
communities have have parallel programs.
So, just encourage you to take a look
for those. Um, if you're not already
familiar with those, they're they're
really great for community building, um,
for helping pick up trash, um, and then
just building the awareness of of the
connection and and the both the
environmental and and social aspects as
well. So, wanted to make sure folks know
about those.
A reminder that end of June I should
have looked at the date before speaking
we have our annual meeting
>> 25th
and that's right
for our day I mean
we
kind of open up our annual meeting to
make it a little a little bit fancier.
Um, normally we do a lunch and we're
going to do a dinner this year. We are
working on um, finalizing our guest
speakers for the evening. Um, it is
going to be at the Oaks uh, in
Summersworth and so we hope that we will
see you there and join us for dinner and
celebrate 55 years of regional landing.
We would have done it this year, but you
know, go ahead.
Um,
All
>> in favor?
for medical