Windham Regional Commission

The WRC recently completed a guidance document for Towns and Energy Committees interested in completing a weatherization project.  The guide, Weatherizing Town Buildings:  What Local Officials and Energy Committees Need to Know, is specifically aimed towards municipal buildings in Vermont, and gives specific insights from the WRC’s experiences.  The WRC was able to compile this document through state Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) funding, in addition to the many successful weatherizations completed with this grant. 

On March 30^th Executive Director Chris Campany provided testimony about decommissioning concerns related to Vermont Yankee, and town planning needs in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene, before a community-based hearing of the Vermont Senate Committee on Economic Development, General and Military Affairs. 

From 2010 through 2012, the Windham Regional Commission (WRC) worked with towns throughout the region to identify savings for town budgets through municipal building weatherization retrofits.  Through both state and federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG), the WRC’s Energy Committee distributed funding to successfully complete fourteen energy audits in seven of the region’s towns, and awarded grants for weatherization retrofits for eight municipal buildings.

The Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies Group (SeVEDS) is an organization driving the regional economic development dialogue for the Windham Region.   SeVEDS, affiliated with the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation, envisions an economy that generates long-term growth and prosperity, improves our quality of life and sustains our quality of place. Members of the SeVEDS Board (Barb Sondag and Bob Stevens) presented the latest findings about the state of the economy of the Windham Region and economic development planning strategies going forward at the February 2012 WRC  meeting. 

WRC has just released a 2 page map of the West River Watershed.  The first page is a richly detailed map of the entire watershed, showing every named river, stream, lake, and pond, along with wetlands, roads, buildings, villages and hamlets, public lands, and major recreation areas and trails.  The second page introduces the concept of a watershed, and presents information on water quality and special designations of lands and waters in the watershed. 

Just as seed catalogs delivered in winter help you dream of your garden to come, our updated bicycle map can help you plan your bicycle trips in the Windham Region this spring.  WRC recently completed an update to one of its Southeastern Vermont Bicycle Suitability Maps.   First released in 2004, Map 1, which covers Southeastern Windham County, contains a wealth of information about many of the roads in our area, including shoulders, traffic volumes, steep hills, riding hazards, bike shops, and more.

For two years dozens of Vermont organizations, led by AARP Vermont, advocated for a Complete Streets law in Vermont.  The Governor signed Vermont’s Complete Streets bill (H.198, Act 34) into law, effective July 1, 2011.  What does this mean for you?  To some extent the answers are a work in progress.

The WRC works with a variety of town officials on a range of issues throughout the year.   In addition to these specific interactions, state law (Title 24, Chapter 117, § 4350) requires Regional Planning Commissions  (RPCs) to consult with each town at least twice during an eight-year period regarding the town’s planning efforts.