Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission: April 2017 News & Notes

Hold On | Source: Jericho Hills Photography

IN THIS ISSUE: TUNE-UPS FOR TOWNS • Tune-ups for Towns From the Vermont Secretary of State: “You go to the dentist twice a year for a checkup, usually not because you have a known problem but because • Update Your Local you want to know if there is one you haven’t noticed. Some annual Emergency Operations checkup is also probably done on your furnace, your car, and your dog. So Plan why not the town? Is it sensible to wait until the newspapers or angry citizens • NH Charitable Foundation tell you what you haven’t done or have done badly? No, it is not. What is Awards Grants in TRORC needed is a good, thorough once-over, top-to-bottom review of how things Region are done, to find what needs to be replaced, what needs more attention, • TRORC Launches New Data what ought to be watched next time. Most towns won’t need the municipal Resources Web Page equivalent of gum surgery or a root canal, but if you did wouldn’t you want to know about it now?” • CDBG-DR Project Updates • TRORC Awarded Vermont The Vermont Secretary of State has compiled a list of documents and Watershed Grant information to provide these tuneups for towns. The list ranges from information about Town Clerks and Selectboards to Delinquent Taxes and Highways.

Go to https://www.sec.state.vt.us/municipal/handbooks-guides/municipal- government/tuneups-for-towns.aspx for the list of resources.

UPDATE YOUR LOCAL EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN The Local Emergency Operations Plan (LEOP) is a required part of the Vermont Emergency Relief and Assistance Fund (ERAF) that must be adopted every year after Town Meeting Day and before May 1st. TRORC has distributed draft LEOPs to all thirty of our member towns and is actively working with several towns to update their LEOPs. Thank you to twelve of our members towns for already adopting and submitting their 2017 LEOPs!

If you have any questions or need assistance in updating your LEOP, please contact Tory Levite at [email protected].

trorc.org Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission: April 2017 News & Notes

NEW HAMPSHIRE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION AWARDS SEVERAL GRANTS IN TRORC REGION The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation recently announced $521,298 in grant awards from its Upper Connecticut River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund (MEF), totaling thirteen projects. Of these thirteen projects, four are located in the TRORC region:

• Connecticut River Conservancy: $27,600 for final engineering design plans for removal of the old Norwich Reservoir Dam in Norwich, VT and $57,500 for removal of the Geer Dam in West Fairlee, VT.

• Vermont Land Trust: $50,000 to support the Halls Brook Norwich Reservoir Dam in Norwich, VT slated for removal. Watershed project to expand the Newbury Town Forest Photo Credit: Connecticut River Conservancy in Newbury, VT. • White River Partnership: $69,348 for planning and engineering to remove the Hyde Dam to restore 60 miles of free-flowing habitat on the Second Branch of the White River.

The MEF supports restoration, protection, and enhancement of the river, wetlands, and shore lands within the Connecticut River watershed. This fund was created as part of the settlement agreement between the parties involved in the federal process to award a new operating license for three hydroelectric dams on the Upper Connecticut River.

To view more information about these projects and others, Above: Geer Dam in West Fairlee, VT that is in final go to www.nhcf.org/mef. engineering design for removal. Photo Credit: Connecticut River Conservancy TRORC LAUNCHES NEW DATA RESOURCES WEB PAGE TRORC has created a new web page that lists resources and links to our most frequent data requests from our member towns, organizations, and members of the public. Resources include links that send you to demographic data, tax data, energy sources, education, health & human services, Agency of Natural Resources (ANR), Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), emergency information, development areas and historic districts, and mapping.

Go to http://www.trorc.org/about-data/# to check it out! A sampling of the data resources available. This graph is from the East Central Vermont Dashboard, which If there is something not on the list that you are looking for, you can find the link to on the data web page. call our office at (802) 457-3188 and ask for Pete Fellows.

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CDBG-DR PROJECT UPDATES TRORC has been working hard this winter on four Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Relief Projects:

• Taggart Hill Road Relocation, Stockbridge: Harvey’s Plumbing & Excavating was chosen by the Selectboard to move Taggart Hill Road away from the stream to prevent future washouts. Construction is expected to begin in June.

• Churchville Culvert Replacement, Hancock: Tremblay Construction, LLC was chosen by the Selectboard to replace a large multi-plate culvert with a concrete Damage of Taggart Hill Road in Stockbridge after Tropical bridge. Construction is expected to begin in May. Storm Irene. The road will be moved 50 ft away from the stream to prevent future washouts. | Photo Credit: TRORC • Mt. Hunger Road Bank Stabilization, Barnard: The large Staff bank that washed out in Tropical Storm Irene across from Barnard’s Highway Garage is slated for stabilization this summer. G&N Excavating was chosen by the Selectboard to complete the job.

• South Royalton School Flood Proofing Designs, Royalton: Final designs were completed by Marble Valley Engineering at the beginning of March for several flood proofing measures that can be done to the back of the South Royalton School. The school was heavily flooded during T.S. Irene from the backup of a small tributary that empties into the White River. It was flooded a second time in the winter of 2016 when a dry well backed up.

TRORC is working on several other CDBG grants in our region. If your community is interested in applying for a planning or implementation grant, please contact Peter Gregory at [email protected]. Churchville Culvert on Howe Brook will be replaced with a concrete deck bridge to better handle floods| Photo Credit: TRORC Staff

Mt. Hunger Road bank slide in Barnard is set for stabilization this summer. Photo Credit: TRORC Staff

trorc.org | Page 3 of 4 128 King Farm Road ~ Woodstock, VT 05091

April 2017 News & Notes

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C O R N I S H by the Vermont Departments of Environmental M I L L B R O O K • CDBG-DR Project Updates basin 10 Conservation, Vermont Fish and Wildlife, and the P L Y M O U T H • TRORC Awarded Vermont C L A R E M O N T Vermont Conservation License Plate program. Watershed Grant B L A C K b a s i n 1 0 For more information, please contact Michael Watershed systems in the TRORC region. Storace at [email protected]. News & Notes trorc.org