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CCRPC outlines FY26 work program, seeks earlier regional input on municipal-scale projects
Summary
At its April 9 meeting, the Planning Advisory Committee reviewed the draft FY26 Unified Planning Work Program, highlighting an EPA Brownfields loan application, regional resilience planning and municipal support services while urging earlier committee input on projects of regional significance.
The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission's Planning Advisory Committee on April 9 reviewed the draft FY26 Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), emphasizing regional resilience projects and expanded municipal services.
Taylor Newton, Planning Program Director, walked members through the UPWP and flagged several priorities, including CCRPC's application to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to capitalize a Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund, work on the Lake Champlain Byway and administration of a Northern Borders Regional Commission grant for municipal wastewater upgrades. Newton said the Brownfields application would provide cleanup funding if awarded and that award decisions are expected in May.
Newton and staff also described a Regional Transportation Resilience Planning effort that will use the state Transportation Resilience Planning Tool to identify vulnerable and critical transportation infrastructure and feed into an updated Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. Newton said most hazard mitigation work will occur in FY2027 because current plans expire in 2028.
Committee members and staff discussed several municipal-scale projects in the draft UPWP, including municipal plan updates, a Jericho Natural Resources Project (which may be shelved for lack of local funding), a Jericho wastewater preliminary engineering report supported by CCRPC, and a Bolton Valley Access Road resilience study. Paul Conner, a PAC member from South Burlington, asked whether Bolton Valley should be treated as a regional project; Newton said state and regional partners had classified it as a municipal project, meaning local match could not be waived.
Staff noted CCRPC is planning to support municipal zoning administration services in Underhill and St. George by funding a shared 35-hour-per-week position. Newton acknowledged the PAC's bylaw responsibility to provide input on regionally significant projects and said he would bring this discussion back to the PAC earlier in the annual cycle to give municipalities more lead time to collaborate.
The committee also covered other UPWP items, including multiple municipal plan updates, potential continuation of VT building energy code and ordinance compliance work pending federal funds, and administrative support for the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan update.
The PAC did not take a formal vote on the UPWP at the meeting; staff offered to provide follow-up materials and outreach to municipal planning commissions and legislative bodies.
