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Annual Meeting Award Recipients
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Mr. Adams,
Mr. Hassinger and
Mr. McInerny |
Outstanding Service Award
Robert Hassinger, Grafton
Mr. Robert Hassinger was this year's recipient of the Outstanding Service Award. Mr. Adams spoke to the members about the dedication of Robert Hassinger not only to the Commission but the Town of Grafton in the last 2 decades.
Mr. Adams read the inscription on the Outstanding Service Award of 2011 for Robert Hassinger that stated, "In recognition of twenty years of contributions through dedicated service and leadership to the Commission, its Executive Committee, Transportation Committee and Physical Development Committee; to the Town of Grafton, its Planning Board, Cable Advisory Committee, Internet Technology Committee and to the Greater Worcester Region through the Metropolitan Planning Organization".
Mr. McInerny, Town Administrator for Grafton, also praised Mr. Hassinger for his work in the Town that included a Bio-Tech by-law, Master Plan, Open Space Plan, Economic Plan, and Transportation Improvement Projects (TIP) for Grafton over the years. He commended Mr. Hassinger for his dedication.
 | | Mr. Adams, Ms. Abrams, Mr. Yaglou, Mr. Williams and Mr. Church |
Transportation Planning Award
Wachusett Greenways
At this year's Annual Meeting for CMRPC in June, the Commission honored Wachusett Greenways with its Transportation Planning Award for its outstanding leadership efforts in the development and construction of the Mass Central Rail Trail, and the promotion of non-motorized transportation through an expanded network of trails and roadways, through the towns of Holden, Paxton, Princeton, Rutland, Sterling and West Boylston.
Formed in 1995, Wachusett Greenways is a grass roots team of volunteers working to expand a network of trails and roads for non-motorized recreation and transportation in the six towns. The Mass Central Rail Trail is the largest project the group is working on and has completed 15 miles with the remaining 15 miles being under development to date. Since large amounts of federal and state funding have not been sought to develop the Mass Central Rail Trail, Wachusett Greenways holds the philosophy that if people have a hands-on construction experience the trail would be better cared for once built. Further, the trail was designed to "greenway" standards which allow for the use of stone dust and other permeable materials instead of pavement. The trail is also ADA accessible.
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Ms. Jacobson, Mr. Adams and Mr. McGourthy |
Community Development and Planning Award
Timothy J. McGourthy
Ms. Jacobson presented the Community Planning and Development Award of 2011 to Timothy J. McGourthy in recognition of outstanding leadership and dedication to the City of Worcester through the planning and development of programs to stimulate economic and community development, create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods and expand the tax base.
Ms. Jacobson praised Mr. McGourthy's work and vision not only for the City of Worcester but the region as well. She stated that he was a smart planner, a talented economic development practitioner, an accomplished researcher, a brilliant strategist and visionary and he possess the ability to see "the big picture". She discussed Mr. McGourthy's educational background which included two Master degrees, one in Public Policy and one in Urban Planning. She stated that he can skillfully combine strategic planning, land use development, zoning analysis, along with other financial and technical tasks, talent that he used in a number of projects in the City. Ms. Jacobson then listed the numerous Committees and Board on which Mr. McGourthy serves. |
Upcoming Events
Worcester Regional Mobility Study
Thursday, Sept. 8th
Union Hall
7:00 p.m.
New Alternates/Delegates
Thursday, Sept. 8th
6:00 p.m.
R.S.V.P.to:
Tuesday, Sept. 20th
8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Union Hall
Tuesday, October 4th
9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Union Hall
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CMRPC
2 Washington Sq
Union Station, 2nd Floor
Worcester, MA 01604
(508) 756-7717 (508) 792-6818 (fax)
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Central Region's Ambu-Bus
The Central Region Homeland Security Advisory Council (CRHSAC) and the Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) recently joined together to provide a new piece of equipment, the Ambu-Bus, to the Central Region Homeland Security emergency services. The Merrimack Valley Transit Authority converted the bus.
The Ambu-Bus, which will be operated by the WRTA and is available to all communities in the Homeland Security Central Region during an emergency, is part transport bus and part ambulance. The WRTA donated a used bus that was going to be taken out of service to CRHSAC, which utilized a US Dept of Homeland Security grant to re-furbish the bus into a vehicle that houses twelve stretchers, oxygen at each stretcher position, first aid gear and some seating positions. It is designed to assist in moving patients from nursing homes, transporting multiple casualties to a medical facility during an emergency or similar uses. The vehicle will be available through the Central MA C-Med Dispatch Center in Holden. A training program will be offered to all local EMS agencies once it is fully outfitted.
This partnership between the WRTA and CRHSAC is a great success story of two public service agencies working together to meet the needs of the citizens of the Central Region. Our Ambu-Bus joins two others in the Commonwealth, operated by the Northeast Homeland Security Advisory Council (NERAC) and the Merrimack Valley Transit Authority (MVTA).
The Central Mass Regional Planning Commission is the fiduciary agency for the CRHSAC.
CMRPC Contact: Mike Dunne
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Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) Completed
The Central Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization (CMMPO), staffed by the CMRPC Transportation Department, recently completed the 2012-2035 long range Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). The RTP documents the current condition of the region's transportation system, and identifies local priorities for federal funding over the next 25 years. Extensive public outreach on the RTP was conducted over the past year, and the new RTP reflects feedback from stakeholders for all modes, including roadway, public transit, bicycle and pedestrian users.
CMRPC Contact: Mary Ellen Blunt
Send an email to: mblunt@cmrpc.org
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Equipment Purchased With Homeland Security Funds Mobilized During Tornado Response
According to Nicole Valentine, former Director of Emergency Services/Public Affairs for the American Red Cross of Central MA , "The Canteen Truck was mobilized for approximately 9 days and was part of a Regional fleet that served 150,000 meals and snacks during that period of time, mostly in Southbridge, Charlton and Sturbridge. Worcester was the only local Chapter with a feeding vehicle; two were brought in from New York and Connecticut".
"Please be advised there is currently an active tornado warning. Residents are advised to seek shelter."
Such was the first notice issued in response to the first request for activation of the Worcester County Alert Network, on June 1, 2011.
This message and many others regarding the tornado and its aftermath were sent out to residents of Worcester County utilizing the telephone alert network of the Central MA Homeland Security Advisory Council (CRHSAC) and the Worcester County Sheriff's Office. The Towns of Auburn, Brimfield, Douglas, Southborough , Southbridge , Sturbridge and Wales utilized the system to alert residents before the tornado reached them and later used to keep citizens informed of road closings and shelter openings.
Equipment purchased with U.S Dept. of Homeland Security funds and made available to local communities in preparation for a natural disaster or terrorist attack were widely used by communities throughout Worcester County and beyond. Message Boards and Jersey Barriers which had been purchased for all communities by CRHSAC were quickly brought to the affected communities by local emergency teams. Radio networks linking the many public safety departments within the region were activated bringing fire mutual aid from as far away as Cape Cod to the local area. Additionally, as shelters were opened many cots purchased by CRHSAC were utilized throughout the region and into Western MA.
The CRHSAC, which utilizes the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission as its fiduciary agency, was pleased that the equipment it had purchased over the past few years was quickly mobilized to assist the residents of Worcester County and beyond when this natural disaster struck so suddenly and devastatingly on June 1, 2011. Additionally, the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Planning work and ongoing emergency response training, helped to provide the framework by which our local officials could respond to this unusual event. The CRHSAC will continue to equip local communities and first responders with the equipment and training they need to protect life and property in the Central Region.
The Council is comprised of 15 members representing the first responder disciplines identified by the US Dept of Homeland Security - these members may be from your Town or a neighboring Town - but work together representing all of us when planning Homeland Security for their Region.
CMRPC Contact: Mike Dunne
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2011 District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) Project Update
The Community Development Department is working with numerous municipalities to provide assistance through the legislatively-funded District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) Program. The emphasis continues to be working to facilitate regionalizing services to affect measurable cost savings to the communities in the CMRPC region. This year, much of our work will provide our member communities with the tools to do exactly that. In addition, we are focusing on identifying and collecting data and information to support local, sub-regional and region-wide economic development planning and marketing.
Projects approved by the Physical Development Committee are summarized as follows:
- Study Southbridge's current water resource and system demands; Project growth patterns in Charlton along the Routes 169/20 corridors so that communities can determine where the most appropriate public drinking water supplies are to support "future needs" projections.
- Review and compile census and ACS data for applicability on region-wide and sub-regional levels, to use as a basis to begin updating/revising the CMRPC Strategic Growth Framework. We will also identify appropriate census and economic data that will support development of a region-wide economic development strategy to promote sound local and regional economic policy.
- Assist communities with development of sustainability planning approaches and metrics. Emphasize regional and sub-regional collaborative opportunities and value.
- Assist communities with pursuit of regionalized/ collaborative service delivery which may include development of a Stormwater Management Utility District. Facilitate multi-town effort to pursue grant funding and also regionalize their local public health departments/boards of health. Organize and hold extensive stormwater management training program as framework for coordinated efforts/utility. Workshops will be taking place in September and October throughout our region. The DLTA program leveraged to help secure a $100,000+ US Environmental Protection Agency Grant for stormwater management outreach throughout Commonwealth. CMRPC partners include Vanasse, Hangen, Brustlin, Inc. , Horsley Witten , The Last Green Valley and numerous others. CMRPC workshops for funding and maintenance options are anticipated in Westborough, Boylston, Sutton, Southbridge, West Brookfield and Rutland .
The DLTA program allows CMRPC to work with our communities to identify work that will be most beneficial to them. We are grateful to the Legislature for their continued support.
CMRPC Contact: Megan DiPrete
Send an email to: mdiprete@cmrpc.org
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E911 Mitration GIS Grant Award
CMRPC recently received notification that it had been awarded a multi-year contract with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Information Technology Division, GIS based on a Request for Response (RFR) proposal submitted in January of this year.
The contract, which runs for 3 years with an additional optional 1 year extension, enables CMRPC to work with the State's GIS office, MassGIS, to help "facilitate the standardization and aggregation of local data on an on-going basis to serve the needs of Commonwealth agencies and the public interest."
In particular, CMRPC will aid MassGIS in three tasks:
- Facilitating the maintenance of standardized parcel data
- Coordinating address list standardization, reconciliation and mapping
- Key locations and points of interest update
The main drive behind this effort is the state's effort to migrate it's existing 911 system to NextGen technology for handling 911 calls. "This migration will require creating and maintaining a complete point dataset representing all addresses found in the Emergency Service Listing as well as additional addresses for residences and businesses that do not have a land-line listing. The address information will come primarily from parcel data with additional municipal-level data collection and verification required to complete the process."
CMRPC recently finished work on Task 2 items of the contract by conducting a Town by Town survey of how municipalities assign numbered street addresses. The survey included questions on who initiates, approves and notifies about new/changed/dropped addresses. Thank you to the 31 of the 40 communities who responded to our survey.
CMRPC Contact: Matt Franz
Send an email to: mfranz@cmrpc.org
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September 2011 
