Thirty- Ninth Year
2006-2007
The Connecticut River Estuary Regional Planning Agency
(CRERPA) is in its 39th year of planning for the nine-town Estuary
region. CRERPA consists of two representatives
from each member town, one representing the town’s Board of Selectmen and the
other representing the Planning Commission.
The CRERPA Board meets on the first Monday of each month at
CRERPA has a staff of 8 full and part-time employees. Other consultants are occasionally contracted independently. CRERPA is supported financially from a variety of federal, state and local sources. A significant portion of the CRERPA budget continues to be the annual contribution of its nine member towns, with other major support coming from the Connecticut Department of Transportation, the State Office of Policy and Management, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, and the Department of Emergency Management.
REGIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS
CRERPA helps its member towns work together voluntarily to
solve common problems affecting the Estuary Region. During the year, CRERPA provided staff
support and meeting space for several area organizations including the
following:
The Connecticut River Metropolitan Planning Organization: The CREMPO Board is comprised of the nine chief elected officials and their alternates, a CRERPA board representative and alternate, and a representative from the Estuary Transit District. CRERPA was designated by the Governor in 2003 as a Metropolitan Planning Organization. CREMPO is the approving board for transportation planning and projects within the region and towns receiving state or federal funding. CRERPA and CREMPO have made significant progress over the last year in transportation planning, as well as writing and adopting a comprehensive 25 year Regional Transportation Plan for the nine town region.
Although the region is designated as an urban area, the region is characterized by small densely populated town centers separated by rural scenic areas and roadways. The need for alternative transportation, more efficient use of the automobile, and inter-modal planning remains an important goal of the region even with limited funding opportunities. The most promising work over the last year in the region on inter-modal planning is with the small public transit system, planning for improvement of bicycle commuting corridors, rail access and expansion, transit oriented development, and parking.
An important milestone for the region includes public bus
connections to Southeastern Connecticut in East Lyme, and programming for
future midday service to connections in Middletown. The region continued to
coordinate and participate in the development and implementation of Intelligent
Transportation System (ITS) strategies along the I-95 corridor, deployment of
incident management strategies for Route 1, and mitigation planning with DEMHS
for evacuation and sheltering.
The
Janice Ehle/Meyer serves as the CRERPA Regional Recycling,
Environmental Education, and HHW Coordinator.
Janice organized and managed the Household Hazardous Waste and
electronics collections at the regional facility in Essex operated by CRERPA on
behalf of the nine towns.
The
Tidewater Institute,
under the direction of Judy Preston, is an independent non-profit environmental
education organization headquartered at CRERPA. Together with CRERPA staff,
Tidewater has successfully completed an inventory of the Connecticut River
corridor and proposal of management recommendations for riparian buffers for
land abutting the Lower Connecticut River.
Local Technical
Assistance
A major component of CRERPA’s work program is technical assistance to individual member towns including review and comment on inter-municipal referrals for zoning applications, zone changes, subdivisions or as required by statute. During the year, staff supported the towns of Essex, Lyme, Killingworth, Westbrook, and Clinton with consultant planning services for implementing their Plans of Conservation and Development through special project planning, writing zoning regulations, or conducting surveys. CRERPA also worked as consultant on a comprehensive update of Chester’s Plan of Conservation and Development. Torrance Downes provided zoning enforcement services to the Town of Old Saybrook and filled in as Westbrook’s Zoning Officer while that position was vacant. CRERPA staff continues to be available to answer questions or conduct research on land use and planning for local officials as requested.
Other Activities
The Agency provides information and education on regional planning issues intended to carry out the recommendations of the Regional Plan of Development.
The Estuary Transit District: (ETD) was established in 1981, with the help of CRERPA, to provide public transportation in the Region. In July, 2003, CRERPA successfully transferred administration of the program to an independent office for the Estuary Transit District. CRERPA continues to provide comprehensive planning services for the district. This is a critical function as the district, under the capable direction of Brad Beecher, continues to expand programs, hours and routes.
CENSUS: Chief Elected Officials and other designated personnel- assessors, registrars of voters etc. are participating in the 2010 Census Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) as authorized by the Census Address List Improvement Act of 1994.
Harbor Management: Studies funded by the CTDEP and NOAA enable CRERPA to be involved with several of the Harbor Management Commissions that exist on the lower river valley. CRERPA has also been involved in the guidance of a multi town effort to develop standards for private residential docks in the lower river. During the year, CRERPA assisted the Town of Old Saybrook with the development of dock standards to be included in an addendum to the Old Saybrook Harbor Management Plan. Using that format, CRERPA was then asked to assist Estuary and Gateway region Town of Old Lyme to develop similar local private residential dock standards. The standards, ultimately to be added to both Plans, are supported by the Connecticut DEP for the purpose of further guiding state permitting decisions, and tailoring such decisions to the planning efforts of local harbor management authorities. It is anticipated that CRERPA will continue to be involved in Harbor Management efforts in both the CRERPA and Gateway regions.
Kayak and Canoe Trails: CRERPA continues to provide education materials for canoers and kayakers through their Connecticut River Estuary Canoe and Kayak Trail program. This very popular service includes the trail map series of maps for waters of Old Lyme, Essex, Deep River and Old Saybrook. Free laminated trail guides can be found in local libraries, town halls, the DEP Marine Headquarters, at the CRERPA office in Old Saybrook, and online at the CRERPA website (www.crerpa.org).
Natural Hazard Mitigation Plans (NHMP): The agency successfully completed FEMA requirements for Natural Hazard Mitigation Plans for each of the nine member towns and the region. Upon adoption of the NHMP by the Board of Selectmen in each town, the town becomes eligible for mitigation funding for projects designated in the NHMP and mitigation funding in the event of a natural disaster. CRERPA staff has been working as requested by the nine towns to conduct public information meetings prior to adoption. To date, the towns of Chester, Deep River, Essex, Lyme, Old Lyme, and Old Saybrook have passed resolutions adopting their town’s plan. The agency continues to work with the Valley Shore Emergency Management Association (VSEMA) to facilitate their emergency planning goals with GIS, financial services, and grant writing support. Several agency staff became NIMS certified during the year. Bill Buckridge, Joel Severance, and Jean Davies continue to represent the interests of the CRERPA region on the DEMHS Region 2 Emergency Planning Team for emergency planning, sheltering, and evacuation
CRERPA staff continues to assist member towns with local open space plans, which will serve as building blocks for a regional greenway plan. The greenway plan will be part of the background work for a new Regional Plan of Conservation and Development.
Board Members as of
KILLINGWORTH Pat Smulders, Jere Adametz
LYME Frank Skwarek,
OLD LYME Jane Marsh, Vice Chairman
OLD
SAYBROOK Karen Jo Marcolini,
WESTBROOK William Neale, Secretary
CRERPA STAFF: Linda Krause, Executive Director; J. H. Torrance Downes, Senior Planner; L. Jean Davies, AICP, Principal Planner; Margot Burns, Environmental Planner; Wini Olson, Planning Specialist; Janice Ehle-Meyer, Recycling Coordinator; Dorothy Papp, Financial Administrator; Pat Anthony, Office Manager