NVDA director urges restoration of brownfields funding, outlines rural industrial projects

For the record, Dave Snedeker, director of the Northeastern Vermont Development Association, told the Commerce & Economic Development committee that NVDA is preparing to vote to submit its draft regional plan and that regional staff have worked with 55 towns in the iterative process of plan development. "We have 55 towns, so we had to meet with each one of them once, but a lot of times more than once," he said.

Snedeker described six housing projects in his region that benefited from EPA brownfields cleanup dollars, saying the environmental work saved money for the housing developers. He asked the committee to consider restoring or supplementing state funding for brownfields programs to support redevelopment and housing production.

He also described two rural industrial development projects in Newport: one proposal to acquire a parcel on downtown Main Street for redevelopment with federal and other funds, and another potential purchase of roughly 30 acres to expand an industrial park adjacent to an existing manufacturing site. Snedeker urged program changes to make grants more attractive to small, rural projects, asking that the program cover a larger share of project costs than the current 20% cap.

Municipal feedback, he said, underscores a broader concern that tier 3 mapping and road‑rule overlays could subject substantial rural acreage to Act 250 review. "When you apply the potential tier 3 maps and the road rule, much of our region is going to be subject to Act 250," Snedeker said, and he cited a rural caucus letter urging repeal of some elements that add constraints for rural towns.

Ending: Snedeker's remarks closed with a request for greater state support for brownfields and for flexibility in rural industrial development funding; the committee did not vote on funding measures during the meeting and listed related items (including cPACE and other bills) on next week's agenda.