Community flood resiliency forum set for Thursday night in Chester

The Agency of Natural Resources in conjunction with the Town of Chester and the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission are sponsoring an informational meeting  from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4 to discuss flooding, river science, river regulations in Vermont and the Vermont Economic Recovery Initiative program start-up.

This public meeting will also address a broad community flood resiliency study, how to go about it fund it, and the various entities available to support the town undertaking the effort. The last 45 minutes of the meeting is set aside for questions from the audience.

The event will be held in the auditorium of the Green Mountain Union High School, 716 VT Rt 103 S. in Chester.

This forum is about developing better communications in the communities along the Williams River to let citizens know of the many initiatives ongoing to address the community concerns for flood disaster planning/ mitigation, and how what we do affects folks upstream and downstream.

Here is the evening’s agenda:

7 p.m. Bill Dakin, moderator

• Meeting Purpose: community update of ongoing work initiatives to discuss how Vermont and Chester manage rivers and flooding

7:10 p.m. David Pisha, Chester town manager and Emergency Management director.
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Buyouts

• Post-Irene HMGP Buyout Status (McNally completed 2013)
• Post July 28, 2014 HMGP Buyout Applications (2 filed, more pending).
• The Town of Chester is applying for a grant for a community flood study

7:20 p.m. Josh Carvajal, Flood Plain manager, VTANR Watershed Management Division

• Floodplain Management – regulations and reality
• Emergency Relief Assistance Fund
• Background and Chester status

7:35 p.m.  Shannon Pitlyk, river scientist, VTANR Watershed Management Division

• River Corridor Planning
• Building partnerships with communities to reduce future flood hazards

7:50 p.m. Todd Menees, river management engineer, VTANR Watershed Management Division

• Who owns the river? RME job duties include providing technical assistance
• Stream Alteration Regulations and Permitting (3 step permit process and fees)
• Gravel Extraction, Tree Removal, Bank Stabilization, Berms, Culverts & Bridges

8:05 p.m. John Broker Campbell and Jason Rasmussen, Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission

• Potential Funding Opportunities (CDBG-DR HMGP, VERI etc ) eligibility criteria

8:15 p.m. Bill Dakin, moderate Question and Answer period ending at 9 p.m.