Greetings All!
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Rick Garcia, Regional Administrator for HUD Region VIII
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Federal and state leaders will sit at a roundtable this week with the regional HUD Director Rick Garcia and other Vision West ND regional federal partners in Dickinson and New Town. The federal officials will explain HUD's role, why they're interested in this project and possible funding in the future. "Through this process, Vision West ND will create an opportunity for local leaders to have face to face contact with regional federal partners in the Vision West ND project," said Vision West ND Program Director Shirley Brentrup. "This will raise the awareness of regional federal offices on the issues being faced in our region and could create cooperative relationships between them and our local leaders," she said.
In December, Brentrup, Deb Nelson, and Vicky Steiner will represent the Vision West ND project at the HUD Grantee Convening in Washington, D.C. at the U.S. Dept. of Transportation December 4-6. The training is part of the grant for team members.
Over 800 people are expected this week at the Louisiana Smart Growth Summit in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Vicky Steiner, Executive Director for the ND Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties will be speaking Wednesday, November 20th on a panel about the Vision West ND HUD planning efforts, the Bakken oil development's impact on western local governments and lessons learned. This area of Louisiana expects to see growth from a shale play and the conference attendees are looking to learn from other parts of the country. Other speakers will discuss how cities can attract new private sector investment, developing attractive downtowns and how to make the choices for sustainable communities.
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Dunn County Commissioner Daryl Dukart, pictured above, serves as Dunn County's representative on the Vision West ND Consortium.
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In other news, the Vision West ND Administrative team met by conference call last Friday. Dunn County Commissioner Daryl Dukart gave the group a report on his meeting with the National Association of Counties in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The ND Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties sponsored the expense of Daryl's conference so that North Dakota would have a voice at the table as counties discussed the goal to have a resource center on shale oil and gas plays. Thirty-seven officials and thirteen states were represented. The oil industry responds best to reliable and consistent action between counties. Mark Resner reported that he visited the Pennsylvania shale play and the state designated oil industry roads so that some of the roads were free from industry traffic. That area, he said, is part of the "rust belt", so they had surplus infrastructure in housing and schools. Brian Cole reported that 85% of the Vision West ND Regional Plan is complete. The team will review a draft in December. About 35 "expert interviews" have been conducted with those with in-depth knowledge on subject matters like roads, water, infrastructure analysis, and child care.
Thanks for reading the latest edition of the Vision West ND Newsletter. Please stay tuned for future news on how the communities of western North Dakota are working toward a completed regional plan. Have a great week!
The Vision West ND Team |
