Grapevines: Northern New England Planner News

New Hampshire

Jacob LaFontaine joins Salem

Jacob LaFontaine is the new Assistant Planner in Salem, NH.  Prior to coming to Salem Jacob worked with the Town of Tilton, NH as a research assistant and in the Land Use Department. He is currently pursuing a Master’s of Public Administration at UNH’s Carsey School of Public Policy and previously received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Keene State College.  Jacob is very excited to be starting in Salem!

Roger Houston, Planning Director, City of Nashua, retires

On January 3, 2020, Roger Houston, AICP, Planning Director, will work his last day for the City of Nashua.  Roger has served the City for over 30 years, and we wish him the very best in his retirement!  Roger has been instrumental in numerous projects with the City in his tenure here, too many to count!  From site plans to subdivisions, walking trails to bike trails, Master Plans to Land Use Plans, and serving for the Hunt Community, Roger has done it all.   He has won several distinguished awards, including Planner of the Year in 2006.  He has proudly served the City and many of our Boards and Commissions tirelessly over the years, and will leave a lasting legacy of knowledge that will irreplaceable.  Enjoy your retirement, Roger!

 Stefanie Casella promoted to Regional Planner at Strafford RPC

Strafford Regional Planning Commission is proud to announce the promotion of Stefanie Casella to regional planner. Stefanie started as the data collection and analysis assistant with SRPC in April 2017.

Stefanie will continue to manage data collection and field work related to transportation planning, while also taking on a larger role in the area of land use planning.

In FY 2020 she will focus on assisting the Town of Nottingham as its contract planner. Stefanie started in this role back in July and holds weekly office hours at the Town Hall. She also attends bi-weekly planning board meetings and assists planning and zoning staff with application review. Stefanie will also be assisting our other contract planners James Burdin, senior regional planner, and Kyle Pimental, principal regional planner, as they continue to provide planning service to SRPC communities.

We're extremely happy for Stefanie and ask that you please join us in congratulating her on this wonderful news!

Maine

Rich Roedner, Topsham Town Manager - and former Town Planner - moves on

Rich Roedner, Topsham Town Manager since 2014, has announced his resignation, effective January 2, 2020. Mr. Roedner began working for Topsham in 2002 as its Planning Director and became Town Manager in 2014. Mr. Roedner and his wife, Dorrie, will be relocating to Elon, NC where Mr. Roedner will assume the role of Town Manager.

As Topsham’s Planning Director, Mr. Roedner helped with the development of a new Comprehensive Plan, the redevelopment of the Topsham Annex, major re-writes of Topsham development codes, the expansion of Topsham Fair Mall, the redevelopment of the Lower Village and the development of new town facilities. Mr. Roedner also worked with the Planning Board to ensure that Topsham’s review procedures were fair and timely.

Since becoming Town Manager in 2014, Mr. Roedner helped the Board of Selectmen adopt and begin the implementation of a 25-year capital investment plan. This plan has helped ensure that Topsham’s capital equipment is replaced in a timely fashion. In addition, Topsham is well on its way to developing a facilities management plan to ensure that Topsham’s built facilities are well-maintained and kept in good working order. Further, working with the Board of Selectmen, Topsham has gained a level of financial security with sufficient cash reserves to avoid short term borrowing, and to increase investment income.

Also, during his tenure, and in response to citizen requests, Mr. Roedner oversaw the conversion of the Topsham Fire Department from a per diem force, to a force with four full time firefighters, giving Topsham full-time coverage 24/7. Likewise, the Topsham Police Department was included in the capital investment plan, which has completely replaced its aging fleet of vehicles, and is now replacing them on a regular basis. In addition, the police force has increased in size to address resident concerns and to better address the changing scene in law enforcement that all towns are facing.

When asked about the timing of his departure, Mr. Roedner commented that “this is a move that my wife and I have been thinking about for many years. But the responsibilities of dealing with aging parents, children in college and the recession, put plans on hold.”

Mr. Roedner also noted “I say this every year at Town Meeting, not because it is a nice thing to say, but because it is the truth. The staff in Topsham is the best I have worked with among the three communities I have worked for in Maine and is at the top of the list of staff in other communities that I am familiar with. I have enjoyed working with them and have developed friendships with many of them that will survive my leaving Topsham”.

Mr. Roedner will become the Town Manager for Elon, NC, a university town of approximately 10,000 residents, and the home of Elon University.

Anne Kreig promoted in Bangor

Anne Kreig has just been promoted to Planning Officer for the City of Bangor.  She was previously a City Planner for the City.  The City’s previous Planning Officer for many years David Gould, is retiring (see below.)

David Gould retires in Bangor

David Gould is retiring as the City of Bangor’s Planning Officer on December 21, 2019. David has dedicated 38 years to the planning profession, over 20 of those years to the city of Bangor, Maine. David’s academic career includes degrees in Environmental Design from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Tech. Soon after graduation, David worked in regional planning in Virginia before coming home to Maine to work as staff planner for the City of Bangor. After five years, he went to Hampden to be their Town Planner for ten years, and then returned back to Bangor. 

His career includes decades of professional planning practice shifts:  addressing suburban sprawl within the city limits for housing and commerce, and supporting the return to the city center for the same. He came into the field just as urban renewal was being replaced by community-based planning. He bears witness to the many shifts in how planners perform their functions and their roles in the community and has adjusted to them all with honesty and integrity.

Community and Economic Development Director Tanya Emery expressed deep appreciation for the hard work and dedication David brought to his position. She added that his encyclopedic knowledge of permitting history in Bangor will be a loss to the department. Community and Economic Development Officer Tyler Collins will also miss his institutional knowledge of Bangor as well as his sound advice. Former Bangor Planning Officer Rod McKay stated his fairness and above all else his integrity have been a tremendous asset for the City. Both McKay and new Planning Officer Anne Krieg agree that his advice and guidance were invaluable and he will be missed. Local attorneys and developers also added that his thorough understanding of city codes and files was outstanding and will be missed. Ed Bearor of Rudman & Winchell noted he will miss working with David and enjoyed hearing his research on World War II heroes, many who are local.

This research is one of the plans David has for his retirement. Gould’s personal interests include conducting research on Maine’s WW II veterans.  You can find his current research on his website at: http://www.ww-iiheroes.com/index.html. Bookmark this spot as there will be more research to come. His next pursuit including such a tribute to those veteran’s lives is a treasure to us all. 

We wish David the best on his retirement pursuits and Anne Krieg adds that she hopes he will take her call when she can’t find a file.

Vermont

Grace Vinson joined the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission (CVRPC) team in November. Previously, she worked as a Policy Associate at The Clark Group, LLC, an environmental policy consulting firm in Montpelier, where she provided support to federal and state agencies to develop and implement environmental policies, procedures, and guidance. She also brings experience in technical research and writing, stakeholder engagement, and development of communication materials. Grace earned certification as a Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) in 2017 and has previously supported federal and state agencies including FEMA and NY State DEC with hazard mitigation and emergency management planning. She is a graduate of the University of Vermont, and will focus on emergency management and special projects at the CVPRC.

In January 2020, Emily Nosse-Leirer (CCRPC) accepted a position as legislative assistant for housing, rural development, banking, and budget with Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy. She and her husband Adam moved to Washington D.C. in mid December. We’re excited to have an AICP planner on staff with our Senator, but will certainly miss Emily here in Chittenden County!

In the fall, Peter Keating, a planner at the CCRPC for more than 30 years, retired. Peter was sent off by fellow planners during a celebratory “Planner’s Therapy” at the Queen City Brewery in Burlington.   

Ravi Venkataraman, the DRB Coordinator in Shelburne, will become the planner for the Town of Richmond, Vermont. His team in Shelburne wishes him well in his new role! 

Chris Damiani joined Green Mountain Transit as a Transit Planner. Chris previously worked at Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission and as the Zoning Administrator in Waitsfield, VT. 

DuBois and King is pleased to announce the promotion of Chris Sargent, AICP, to Planning Group Manager.  Chris is currently building his team of planners, landscape architects and engineers and diversifying the Planning Group's capabilities to be able to offer more services for the communities and governments D&K works with.  In addition to building on D&K's reputation for quality multi-modal transportation planning, he is excited to see the Planning Group pursuing more projects involving active transportation (such as trails master planning), environmental planning and permitting and airport planning.

This fall, the City of Burlington welcomed Sophie Sauve as the Parks Comprehensive Planner in the Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront Department. Sophie joined the parks team after working for consulting firms as planner and landscape architect, including at DuBois & King, and as the District Manager for the Winooski Valley Parks District. Sophie has had her hands full with several major parks capital projects since joining the city team!

Claire Tebbs AICP, formerly a Senior Planner with Addison County Regional Planning Commission (Addison Co. Vermont) now has her own consulting business. She is based in Middlebury, Vermont. You can find her at: eartogroundvt.com

In case we didn’t announce this previously, in late 2018, Lee Krohn, AICP, was hired as the Town Manager in Shelburne, VT. Lee served in the role in an interim capacity for about 6 months prior to being hired, after nearly 30 years as a planner in Manchester, VT and with the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission.

Richard Amore, AICP and five other national experts, helped Rockport Texas bounce back from Hurricane Harvey

Richard Amore, AICP volunteered and participated in APA’s Community Planning Assistance team (C-PAT) visit to Rockport, Texas on May 20-24, 2019. Rockport took a direct hit from Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, which crippled its once thriving tourism industry. In 2018, the City of Rockport received a disaster recovery grant from the APA Foundation to help the community get back on its feet. Richard, and five other national experts in community planning, urban design, flood resilience, and economic development, participated in a week-long effort to help Rockport bounce back smarter and stronger.  The Rockport C-PAT team worked in close coordination with City of Rockport’s staff, the local chamber of commerce, local leaders, and Texas A&M’s target communities program during the week long charrette. Rockport’s C-PAT team developed recommendations and a plan to increase economic and flood resilience, through flood mitigation, downtown revitalization, green infrastructure, and placemaking strategies.

What is APA’s Community Planning Assistance Team?

APA’s Community Planning Assistance Teams program serves communities facing limited resources by helping them address planning issues such as social equity and affordability, economic development, sustainability, consensus building, and urban design, among others. By pairing expert urban planning professionals from around the country with residents and other stakeholders from local communities, the program seeks to foster education, engagement, and empowerment. Visit APA’s C-PAT website to learn more or to help identify a future C-PAT community in New England, or to or to volunteer in a future C-PAT

Andrew Graminski joins Brattleboro

Andrew Graminski is the new Planning Technician for the Town of Brattleboro, Vermont. Andrew is a 2019 graduate of Western Washington State with a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Planning and Sustainable Development, an accredited Planning program. Prior to coming to Brattleboro, Andrew interned at Skagit County Planning and Development Services, providing both long range and current range assistance on project. Andrew enjoys conducting community outreach and working with youth. He jumped right in with VPA and is helping to plan the 2020 NNECAPA conference.

 New Vermont AICP Planners & AICP Candidates

This fall, Jacob Hemmerick, Planning & Policy Manager for VT Dept. of Housing & Community Development, and Emily Nosse-Leirer, Senior Planner at the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC), both passed the AICP exam. Catherine Bryars, Senior Planner at Bennington County Regional Planning Commission completed the AICP Candidate program to earn the full AICP credential. Ravi Venkataraman, DRB Coordinator for Shelburne, VT, also took the AICP exam to begin the AICP Candidate program.

Life Updates

Rita Seto of Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission, Woodstock, VT (and our NNECAPA Secretary) and Nate Miller of Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission, Manchester, NH welcomed their son Daniel Richard Miller on Sept 14, 2019. Big sister Olivia adores him and he keeps his parents on their toes with a big smile.

On September 13, 2019 Hal Wilkins of Windham, VT passed away following a short battle with cancer. Hal spent his career working across our region wearing many hats-- from the White Mountains to towns and ski resorts across southern Vermont, running his own business and serving as a selectman in Windham, and serving on environmental boards. Hal will be missed by his friends and colleagues in the planning community.

Two Vermont Planners Get Married (on the same day!)

October 13 was a busy day for Vermont planning nuptials.

Lee Krohn, AICP, currently serving as Town Manager in Shelburne, Vermont, married Carol Talley, M.D. out on Lake Champlain on the Spirit of Ethan Allen on that perfect, bluebird October day.

Also, Paul Conner, AICP, Director of Planning & Zoning in South Burlington, Vermont, married Lara Stone, D.P.M. in the beautiful City of Winooski by the river of the same name (Photo credit Hannah Photography.)