Addison County panel starts rewrite of natural-resources chapter, plans new flood-resilience section

At a virtual meeting, the Addison County Regional Planning Commission (ACRPC) Natural Resources Committee restarted work to revise the regional plan’s natural-resources chapter, assigned staff drafting tasks and said it will add a new flood-resilience section to the chapter.

Hannah, JS manager for ACRPC, told the committee that the current natural-resources chapter is 104 pages and has not been updated since 2011. “It’s important to have details and analysis,” Hannah said, “but if things are really long, then sometimes they don’t get implemented or used as frequently because they’re just not as easy to interact with.” She said staff aim to shorten and reorganize the chapter to make it easier to use while keeping necessary analysis.

Committee members said the chapter should include environmental‑justice considerations and reflected a desire to center the needs of lower‑income residents and other groups often hardest hit by environmental problems. Jean Montross, executive director at Hope, urged the committee to consider how environmental harms disproportionately affect low‑income people and other vulnerable populations; Hannah said that perspective should be incorporated as the chapter is revised.

ACRPC staff responsibilities and timeline ACRPC staff — including Hannah, the new EcoAmeriCorps member Leander (who is assisting with data updates), and natural-resources planner Andrew LaRoe — will prepare the working drafts and respond to committee feedback. Hannah said Leander has already updated underlying data for the chapter to give the committee a current foundation for analysis.

The committee updated goals and objectives last year and will begin this round by revisiting those revised goals and objectives. Hannah said she will draft a new set of goals and objectives for the flood-resilience section and distribute them for comment before the group’s next meeting. Committee members were asked to review the existing chapter and the revised goals and objectives in advance; Hannah said she will send a packet, including a Google Doc of the revised goals and objectives and the draft flood-resilience goals, ahead of the next meeting.

Public-access and document workflow Hannah said the exception allowing fully remote meetings under the open-meeting law expired at the end of 2024, and to comply with the law the committee will offer a physical location option beginning next month. She described a hybrid setup in which staff who are near the office will host in‑person attendees while remote staff join by video.

On document workflow, the committee discussed using a shared Google document for collective commenting and alternatives for members who prefer paper. Hannah said she can mail printed copies and will coordinate with Leander to arrange printing from the office when needed. She also offered to troubleshoot individual access to Google Docs for members who encounter permission problems.

Next steps Committee members agreed to: (1) review the revised goals and objectives posted in the meeting agenda, (2) provide comments in the shared Google Doc or by returning individual copies to staff if preferred, and (3) review Hannah’s draft flood-resilience goals and objectives ahead of the next meeting. Hannah said the goal is to complete the chapter update by the end of 2025.

No formal motions or votes were recorded during this meeting; the session focused on assigning drafting tasks, coordinating public‑access procedures and scheduling work for the coming months.