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RDCs push for continued rural industrial development and brownfields funding
Summary
The Regional Development Corporations asked lawmakers to continue and expand a recently funded rural industrial development program and to increase state brownfields remediation dollars, saying suitable industrial/commercial sites are scarce and remediation gaps stall projects.
Andy Jewel told the committee that sites suitable for industrial and commercial development are limited in Vermont because properties must meet many criteria—flat land, water and wastewater access, transportation and electrical infrastructure—and that the state’s rural industrial development pilot (referred to by Jewel as RIDDIP) helped secure and predevelop land for business use.
Jewel said the program funded a small number of awards in the most recent round and that the RDCs would like to see it continued with additional funding. He described the program as allowing RDCs to acquire or predevelop property, clean or pre‑permit it as appropriate, and then sell or transfer the land to a business buyer and return proceeds to a revolving fund.
On brownfields, Jewel said many village commercial parcels are contaminated because of historic practices and that public projects often stop when remediation is required. He offered examples in his region—Yellow Barn Project in Greensboro Bend and South View Meeting House—where remediation needs stalled otherwise funded projects. Jewel said federal EDA brownfield dollars have been an important source but are “drying up,” and he recommended more state brownfield funds (he suggested an additional $5 million) to keep projects moving.
Jewel and committee members discussed municipal ownership models: RDCs sometimes take temporary ownership of parcels to perform remediation and then transfer cleaned properties to developers, which can ease the administrative burden on municipalities. Committee members asked whether the recent RIDDIP awards had progressed; Jewel said the program had four awards made recently but projects had not reached disposition yet.
Jewel recommended preserving funding for property acquisition and predevelopment and exploring tax exemptions or other incentives to facilitate transfers to developers after remediation.
