Energy Committee Grant Opportunity

Here is the information you need about the new grant program the Vermont Energy & Climate Action Network (VECAN) announced at the Dec. 4 conference workshop called 'Building the Power of Vermont Communities to Increase Energy Efficiency and Reduce Climate Change Impacts'.

The VECAN grant program will support Vermont groups working on energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in their communities that support local sustainability. Goals of the initiative are:

• To build Vermont's leadership fostering and supporting energy and climate change strategies at the community level;
• to decrease community carbon footprints;
• and to increase carbon-free energy independence by supporting the implementation of community based energy projects.

Grants will range from $1,000 to $3000, with an application deadline of January 31, 2011. Grant applications will be reviewd by a committee made up of the key VECAN support organizations and members of the VECAN Advisory Committee. The funding is made possible by a Dept. of Energy grant secured by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

Find many more details about the grant program and download the grant application at http://www.vecan.net/ or call the New England Grassroots Environment Fund's office at 802-223-4622. Please feel free to call or email NEGEF, who is the VECAN partner administering the grant porgram, with questions or to discuss project ideas.

VECAN is a collaborative effort of six nonprofit organizations: Community Climate Action, New England Grassroots Environment Fund, Vermont Sierra Club, Sustainable Energy Resource Ground, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation and the Vermont Natural Resources Council.

Thanks for all you do to help save energy and transition Vermont to a clean, green energy future!

Nancy Nottermann, CVRPC Energy Coordinator

Pre Disaster Mitigation Plan Workshop

SAVE THE DATE

Pre Disaster Mitigation Plan Workshop

WHEN: December 14, 2010, 2:00 - 4:00 pm

WHERE: The New East Montpelier Fire Station located at 54 Village Acres (Rte 2 & 14), East Montpelier

WHO: Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission

PRESENTATION SPEAKERS: Ray Doherty from Vermont Emergency Management

WHY: Updated plans and new plans are due in the near future & FEMA has made changes in the PDM plan structure and requirements

RSVP – Jen @ mojo@cvregion.com

(p) 802-229-0389 (f) 802-223-1977

Come learn about the changes FEMA has made to the PDM plan structure. Also learn about the benefits your town can receive by having a PDM plan such as a PDM-C grant, HMGP grant and funding for hazard mitigation projects (culvert expansion, flood mitigation projects, property acquisition, retrofit projects etc.) Please forward this to those you may think are interested. If you are unable to attend this session, we will be holding another workshop in mid January – details to follow.

Refreshments will be served

Montpelier Winners - Rain Garden Contest

At the 3rd annual Vermont Rain Garden contest held this summer, Heather Burt (Montpelier High School) won best garden outside Chittenden County and Jeff Schumann (also Montpelier) won best us of native plants for his garden. Congratulations to both for their attractive landscape that is also used to treat storm water runnoff; nice work, indeed!

Bagels & Brownfields!

The Brownfields & Bagels meeting has been postponed to a later date.

Please feel free to contact Jennifer at mojo@cvregion.com if you have questions or are looking for more information regarding brownfields funding and redevelopment ideas.

ECO DRIVING

Want to save money on your vehicle’s fuel costs – personal and municipal?
CVRPC is pleased, to announce free workshops on vehicle fuel savings for your municipal road crews, town employees, business and the general public. These 2 hour sessions will be held on Nov 11, Thurs, and Nov 12, Friday each from 3 – 5 pm. The workshop is entitled ‘Eco Driving’ and will provide hands on training in proven energy reduction strategies for fuel efficient driving, including the realities of idling. The University of VT Transportation Research Center has developed these highly sought after trainings.

Locations are TBD, but one will be in the Barre/Berlin area and one in the Waterbury area. Since the capacity is 30 people per workshop, please contact me at CVRPC, 229-0389 to reserve a spot. Our goal is to reach as many towns as possible.

Who should attend? Our hope is that towns will send representatives, including planning commission members, select boards, road crews, and managers, who can report back to their towns and then implement the workshop strategies. We also hope that the general public and energy committees will wish to participate.

Small changes in driving habits can save a lot of money.
Whether you are a town employee or a community member or a business with a fleet of vehicles, these workshops are appropriate for you.

To learn more or register, please contact Nancy Nottermann, the Energy Coordinator at CVRPC, 229-0389 or email nottermann@cvregion.com. Feel free to pass this information on to anyone who might be interested.

SAVE the DATE: Low Impact Development Workshop -November 4th, 2010

SAVE the DATE Thursday November 4, 2010, 5:30 – 8:30pm
Low Impact Development Workshop Central Vermont Chamber of Commerce, Berlin, Vermont

Presentations will include the benefits Low Impact Development, implementation techniques and regional stormwater analysis results. Design charrette will provide participants hands-on opportunity to retrofit an urban site with LID techniques.

What is LID? Low Impact Development is a development technique implemented to manage storm water close to the source to decrease the harmful effects of run off and help increase water quality.

Formal workshop announcement, agenda and registration coming soon!

Municipal Planning Grants Available FY 2011

Municipal Planning Grants (MPGs) will be available once again this year with applications due on November 30, 2010. MPG funds provide assistance for town planning and implementation. Information about the program is available online at: http://www.dhca.state.vt.us/Planning/GMS/OnlineApplication2011.htm
MPG funding for fiscal year 2011 (FY11) was allocated approximately at the same $400,000 level as in FY10, which is about half of the annual allocation received earlier in the past decade. Because of the reduced funding, the Community Planning and Revitalization Division conducted user surveys, meetings and interviews to determine how best to support the planning needs of Vermont municipalities at this time.

Based on responses to this outreach, two notable changes have been made in the program for FY11:

1. The emphasis of the statewide priorities is now more focused on implementation of the municipal plan.
2. A cash match will be required for grant requests between $8,000 - $15,000. Matching funds will not be required for grant requests of $8,000 or less.
Please review the online Program Description for details.
Online applications will be required. We encourage you to begin working on your application well before the online application website becomes available later this fall. You can start now by meeting with appropriate boards and consultants and developing your work plan and budget using the Sample Application as a reference. See instructions for getting started on the FY11 MPG Webpage.
Application dates:

End of September/early October, 2010 – Opening of online application website will be announced
November 30 – Application due date
December 31 – Grant decisions announced

For any questions about the MPG program please email Wendy.Tudor@state.vt.us or call: 802-828-5249 (direct line) or (800)622-4553 (toll free).