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Regional planning director Beth Gillis reports $16.6M in awards, outlines cell-coverage mapping and housing initiatives
Summary
Beth Gillis, executive director of the Lake Champlain-Lake George Regional Planning Board, told the Warren County committee that the board secured $16.6 million across 22 awards, is mapping cell-coverage gaps across five counties, and is coordinating several housing initiatives including a $3 million revolving loan fund and a $5 million federal award for workforce housing.
Beth Gillis, executive director of the Lake Champlain-Lake George Regional Planning Board, told the Warren County committee on March 24 that the five-county board has been active in securing grant funding and coordinating regional projects.
Gillis said the board submitted 61 grant applications last year and now has 22 awards totalling $16.6 million. The board’s recent work includes a cellphone-coverage mapping project funded by the Northern Border Regional Commission; consultants have driven more than 8,500 miles across the five-county region to identify areas with no service or single-carrier coverage and are preparing a root-cause analysis to guide remedies.
On housing, Gillis described multiple initiatives: a $3 million revolving loan fund for workforce housing (the Accelerate Workforce Housing program) that pairs with philanthropic funds for pre-development and technical assistance; pre-development grants for infrastructure and permitting; and a $5 million federal award for workforce housing across the five-county region that the board will allocate with partner input. "We were awarded $5 million through Congresswoman's program... it’s for workforce housing in our five-county region," Gillis said, noting the board is convening partners to determine the best use of the funds.
The board also won a $1.1 million EPA brownfield assessment grant to complete environmental reports and spur redevelopment of priority sites; staff are soliciting additional small candidate properties from municipalities.
Gillis’s presentation highlighted substantial regional grant activity, technical assistance to municipalities, and new tools (GIS, brownfield assessments, loan funds) intended to advance housing, water quality and economic development across the region.
