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2018-09-15 - Celebrate Great Bay and Hampton Estuaries during National Estuaries Week, September 15-22!

RPC is celebrating by sharing a refreshing tale and photos of the beauty and bounty that NH’s estuaries hold by David O’Hearn, Exeter-Squamscott River Local Advisory Committee member and long-time user of the river and Great Bay.

09-15-18

David O’Hearn,

Exeter – Squamscott River Local Advisory Committee

The last season's baiting of the lobster traps was done today. Next week the traps go to dry dock. The catch was poor with only five keepers coming home but that usually happens when we get the hard running tides of last week. My last two traps were so full of bottom debris I struggled getting them over the gunnel.

The tide was right for clamming and picking oysters though. Got a peck of clams and a limit of oysters. The oysters were just lying on the ground after the tide went out. It was unreal. Lots of big oysters and I targeted those. The amount of spat (young oysters) sticking to every rock and every shell in the bed was very encouraging.




I miscalculated how far I brought my boat ashore. Had a little time on my hands until the tide returned.

It was a good day to be a Bayman. I hit the trifecta.

[Environment]

2018-09-10 - RPC's David Walker Promoted to Assistant Director

The Rockingham Planning Commission (RPC) is pleased to announce the promotion David Walker of Exeter NH to be Assistant Director beginning September 10. The RPC is one of nine regional planning commissions in the State and provides regional land use, transportation and community planning services to 27 southeastern New Hampshire municipalities.

Mr. Walker will provide support for overall management of the agency and will work with the Commission’s highly experienced staff, and community representatives on transportation and land use planning initiatives. For the last 18 years Mr. Walker has served as the Commission’s lead Transportation Planner and Transportation Program Manager. Prior to joining the Commission Walker worked as a Transportation Planner in Mariposa County, California for three years.

Tim Roache, Executive Director of the Rockingham Planning Commission, said “the Commission is truly fortunate to have Dave Walker on staff. His institutional knowledge and deep technical knowledge of transportation and regional planning work is critical as we navigate challenges the region faces today.”

As a long tenured employee with the Commission, Mr. Walker is already familiar with the Rockingham Planning Commission, as well as the challenges facing the Commission’s member communities. “I am excited to expand my role within the commission as we collaborate with our local, regional, state, and federal planning partners to address community development issues and initiatives.”, Walker commented.

David received a Bachelors. of Political Science from the University of Vermont and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawaii. He joined the Rockingham Planning Commission in 2000 and was promoted to the Transportation Program Manager in 2010. Dave primarily works on the development and management of the Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), agency transportation planning documents such as the Long-Range Transportation Plan and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), strategic documents such as the Congestion Management Process (CMP) and corridor studies, and technical assistance to communities in the region. Dave lives in Exeter with his wife and three children.

2018-09-07 - ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE DAY SET FOR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20

The annual household hazardous waste collection for residents of Exeter, Stratham, Newfields, East Kingston, Epping, Seabrook and South Hampton will be held on Saturday, Oct. 20, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Exeter Public Works Garage on Ne

The annual household hazardous waste collection for residents of Exeter, Stratham, Newfields, East Kingston, Epping, Seabrook and South Hampton will be held on Saturday, Oct. 20, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Exeter Public Works Garage on Newfields Road (NH 85).

This is a great opportunity for residents of these communities to conveniently and safely dispose of their unwanted hazardous household materials which, if discarded improperly, could threaten drinking water supplies. Each household can dispose the equivalent of 10 gallons of waste. There is no charge, although a donation of $5 per household is requested to help offset collection costs.

An event flyer and more information is available on the RPC's Household Hazardous Waste page.

What’s Accepted

The following waste will be accepted: antifreeze, asbestos, brake fluid, carburetor cleaner, cell phones, creosote, drain cleaners, engine degreaser, fluorescent light bulbs, fungicides, furniture polish, gasoline, herbicides, insect sprays, kerosene, mercury, metal polish, muriatic acid, oil-based paint, paint thinner, pesticides, photo chemicals, pool chemicals, rechargeable batteries, rodent poisons, rust remover, solvents, wax polish, and wood preservatives.

Car batteries and waste engine oil will be accepted for recycling. Lead sinkers, now banned for use in New Hampshire waters, will also be accepted.

What’s Not Accepted

Materials that will not be accepted include ammunition, esters, ethers, explosive materials, gas cylinders, infectious and biological wastes, prescription medicines/syringes and radioactive materials, as well as materials whose content cannot be determined. Electronic equipment will not be accepted, but information on where electronics can be dropped off will be available.

Materials commonly—although incorrectly—thought to be hazardous also will not be accepted. For example, alkaline batteries made after 1996 can be safely thrown away in the regular household trash, so they won’t be accepted here. And latex paint will not be accepted because it is not considered hazardous or toxic once it solidifies. To safely dispose of latex paint in the regular trash, first open the can lid and allow the paint to dry thoroughly (or mix it with cat litter until it thickens).

No waste of any kind from commercial businesses or from residents of other communities will be accepted.

This hazardous waste collection is jointly funded by the towns of Exeter, Stratham, Newfields, East Kingston, Epping, Seabrook and South Hampton and organized by the Rockingham Planning Commission. More information is available from the following individuals:

  • Rockingham Planning: Tim Roache, Executive Director, 778-0885
  • Town of Exeter:Russell Dean, Town Manager, 778-0591
  • Town of Stratham:Paul Deschaine, Town Administrator, 772-4741
  • Town of Newfields:Christopher Hutchins, Board of Selectmen, 772-5070
  • Town of East Kingston:Cheryl Hurteau, Town Office Manager, 642-8406
  • Town of Epping:Gregory Dodge, Town Administrator, 679-5441
  • Town of Seabrook:John Starkey, Public Works Manager, 474-9771
  • Town of South Hampton:Angela Racine, Town Administrator, 394-7696

[Environment]

2018-08-27 - NHOSI 2018-2019 Zoning Amendment Calendars

NH Office of Strategic Initiatives (NH OSI) has release the zoning calendars for 2018-2019. The calendars are available below and additional details information is available at OSI's Resource Library under Zoning Amendment Calendar.

2018-2019

Traditional Town Meeting

Official Ballot ("SB2") Town Meeting

2018-08-10 - OSI 2018 Legislative Update Summary

A summary of planning-related legislative amendments from 2018

With the conclusion of the 2018 Legislative Session, the Planning Division of the Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI) provides the following summary of planning-related legislative amendments. These are summaries; please review the source bills for their complete language, linked below and also available here. Additional municipal legislative updates from the 2018 Session may be found in NHMA’s Final Bulletin, 2018 Session.

Many of the changes from 2018 may impact Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals procedures; this is a good time to review and revise local Rules of Procedure as appropriate.

For more information, please contact: Michael Klass, Principal Planner (michael.klass@osi.nh.gov; 603-271-6651) New Hampshire Office of Strategic Initiatives.

2018-07-27 - Help Keep Trash Out of Regional Waterways - Grant Funds Available, Due 9/21

Recycling Partnership is offering grants to help communities purchase new curbside recycling carts, funding cleanup activities, and providing public recycling receptacles.

Did you know that helping keep trash out of rivers, lake and ocean environments can be as easy as putting a lid on your recycling bin? The Recycling Partnership is offering grants to help communities with coastal shorelines purchase new curbside recycling carts, funding cleanup activities, and providing public recycling receptacles. The grant application is due by September 21, 2018 and all communities with coastal waterways (including Great Bay and Hampton Estuaries, and freshwater rivers that flow into these coastal waters) are eligible. Additional information about the grant is provided below.

The Recycling Partnership is a national non-profit organization that works across the United States to advance recycling and support public recycling programs.As a part of this work, The Partnership offers a range of free downloadable resources that communities can access to help them communicate with the public about recycling and support community work on fighting contamination.To access these resources, visit the “For Communities” web site.In addition to these no-cost resources, The Recycling Partnership also operates grant programs that provide funding for communities seeking to invest in their curbside recycling efforts.Communities interested in implementing a new curbside recycling program or moving an existing curbside recycling program from collection using bins to collection using carts can learn more by clicking here.

The Recycling Partnership just announced the Coastal and Waterway Community Recycling Grant Program which focuses support on communities with jurisdictional boundaries along oceans, coastal bays, intercoastal waterways, or major river systems.In addition to offering funding for curbside recycling, this new grant program also offers funding for coastal clean-up activities and public space recycling receptacles.Interested local governments should visit the following web sites for more information:

Grant funding is available for the following items:

  • Recycling Carts: $7 per recycling cart with a maximum grant award of $500,000;
  • Education and Outreach: $1 per household with a maximum grant award of $50,000
  • Litter Clean-up along Waterways: up to $10,000 in grant funding; and
  • Public Space Recycling Receptacles: up to $10,000 in grant funding.

Successful applicants must use grant funding directly toward the purchase of recycling carts to either transition from an open bin or bag-based curbside recycling collection system or start up a new cart-based curbside recycling collection program. Grant funding for carts will be provided at a rate $7.00 per cart delivered up to $500,000. Successful applicants will also receive funding for education and outreach implementation at a rate of $1.00 per household up to $50,000.

For more information about working with The Recycling Partnership, please email Rob Taylor at rtaylor@recyclingpartnership.org.

2018-07-12 - Hazard Mitigation Grants available - Letter of Intent due 8/3/18

On June 8, 2018, two major disasters for were declared for the State of New Hampshire: 1) DR4370 was declared due to Severe Storms and Flooding on March 2-8 for Rockingham County and, 2) DR4371 was declared due to a Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm on March 13, 2018 for Carroll, Strafford, and Rockingham.

In addition to authorizing Public Assistance (PA) for the 4 counties, the declarations also implement the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) statewide, under Section 404 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. The purpose of the HMGP is to provide funding for the implementation of cost-effective measures that reduce or eliminate damage and risk from the effects of natural disasters.

New Hampshire Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) is requesting Letters of Intent (LOI) from Local governments, Private Non-Profit organizations and State agencies that intend on applying for HMGP funds. Eligible projects include, but are not limited to: property acquisitions, property elevations, localized flood risk reduction, and soil stabilization. Please reference the attached HMGP brochure for guidance. Once received, HSEM will be in touch to review the projects eligibility and potential for application submission.

If your organization plans on participating in this program, please complete the Letter of Intent on the HSEM Resource Center at https://apps.nh.gov/blogs/hsem/?page_id=1199 .

Letters of Intent must be received by August 3, 2018.

Additional information about HMGP is available here. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your HSEM Field Representative at (603) 223-3663.

2018-06-29 - Call for Transportation Projects

For the Regional Long Range Transportation Plan and the State Ten Year Plan

The RPC is updating the Long Range Transportation Plan project list in preparation for the next iteration of the State Ten Year Plan cycle that NH DOT is expected to begin this fall. These updates require community and transportation agency involvement to identify and prioritize local transportation issues and needs throughout the region. The MPO is asking that communities review the existing list of projects in the Long Range Transportation Plan to ensure that priorities from your community are included and indicate any transportation service or infrastructure problems that are not being addressed. This details of this process are found on the Project Solicitation and Selection page of the website.

[Transportation]

2018-06-28 - Updated Land Use Data Are Now Available for the RPC Region!


RPC has compiled historical land use data for communities in the RPC region for the years 1962, 1974, 1998, 2005, 2010, and 2015. Data for the year 2015 has been included in the updated data compilation. Each community’s data can be accessed via the community pages on the RPC website under “Relevant Documents”. Data for the overall RPC region is available on the RPC communities main page, accessed via the same link.

Land use data is derived from high-resolution image sources, which is used to create land use data layers for the region via the NH Land Use Mapping Standard. The resulting data consists of 14 categories of land use types, which have been quantified in acres per community per year, as noted.

For additional information on the mapping standard or the available land use information, please contact RPC personnel: Robert Pruyne rpruyne@rpc-nh.org or Christian Matthews cmatthews@rpc-nh.org.

[Land Use]

2018-06-27 - 2019 NHDES Local Source Water Protection Grant Applications Are Now Available! Due 11/1/18

Funding is available from the Department of Environmental Services to develop and implement programs to protect existing sources of public drinking water. The grants are available to water suppliers, municipalities, regional planning agencies, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, conservation districts, and state agencies. Applicants can receive up to $20,000 for projects that protect drinking water sources, including watershed planning, delineation of protection areas, assessment of threats to water supply sources, “on the ground” implementation projects, and source security.

RPC has worked with several towns interested in source water protection grants and has successfully received grants from the last three grant rounds. Contact

Examples of projects include:

  • Seabrook Groundwater Reclassification - aimed to better protect groundwater drinking water supply areas that extended into neighboring towns.
  • Fremont Aquifer Protection Ordinance Update - aimed to update town land use regulations to better protect the town's extensive groundwater resources.
  • Source Water Protection Education (coming in early summer 2018!) - aimed to provide overview of drinking water supply status and prioritizes protection efforts for all 27 RPC communities.

Contact RPC if your community is interested in working on a source water protection project - we can help with grant writing and/or the project itself!

The application packet is now available online to provide sufficient lead time for applicants to work with stakeholders to determine what protections are necessary to address potential contamination threats, coordinate with working partners, and determine a budget. NHDES is happy to confer with potential applicants in advance of the development of an application.

Examples of projects: (a summary of past projects is posted to the website below)

  • Development and adoption of municipal groundwater protection regulations similar to NHDES models.
  • Security improvements such as fencing, gates, or cameras.
  • The creation and implementation of local source water protection plans.
  • Certain transactional costs associated with land conservation to protect drinking water sources.
  • Education and outreach campaigns.
  • Projects which prepare first responders to protect public water supplies.
  • The implementation of stormwater best management practices.
  • Completing state Groundwater Reclassification for community well(s)

For more information visit - https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/dwgb/dwspp/lswp_grants.htm

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