Cooperative Development Institute’s Post

Today Council adopted its 2024/25 budget which focuses on delivering legacy infrastructure and quality essential services ensuring certainty for our region now, and into the future. 💰   This budget will improve service delivery and invests in vital infrastructure and services as well as some great new capital projects. 🤝   The budget includes a 3.9% annual general rates increase, however, most residential households will only see a 3.5% increase.   Some highlights include: 🛣️ $23.1 million in road maintenance and repairs 🚧 $27.5 million in capital road infrastructure 🌊 $70 million completion of Council's Road Flood Recovery Program 🛠️ $16.8 million in water infrastructure and services 🧱 $5.47 million for facilities 🏞️ $1.3 million for parks and open spaces 🎆 $480,000 for events and community grants   To find our more visit: wdrc.info/budget25 Read the full media release here: https://lnkd.in/gCucp44Q

🏠Governor Hochul launches the $50M County Infrastructure Grant Program to combat the housing crisis. Open to counties outside NYC, it funds projects that support the creation of housing, contribute to placemaking, & further encourage visitation & tourism: https://on.ny.gov/40WiGa9

Brownfields pose challenges but also hold immense potential. Discover how communities are turning challenges into growth in our latest #CHAngemakers blog: https://bit.ly/CHA-Brfld.      Brownfield expert Keith Ziobron, PE, LEP, discusses how public-private partnerships and EPA grant programs can help transform properties into valuable community assets such as parks, housing, or commercial spaces. Learn about the available grants and see how your community can benefit!   #theCHAway #Brownfield

Navigating the federal grants process poses a barrier to rural, resource-strapped communities like York, Alabama. Through the Build America Bureau's Thriving Communities Program (TCP), communities can tap into much-needed funds to tackle their greatest transportation infrastructure challenges. In York, a railroad bisects the community for extended periods of the day, creating "landlocked" neighborhoods cut off from school, work, health care, and emergency services. As part of TCP, a capacity builder team led by Main Street America is facilitating a community-driven strategy for downtown redevelopment that aligns mobility and safety improvements. MSA provided one-to-one support on a RAISE discretionary grant application, in addition to developing partnerships with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). York’s $3 million RAISE grant will be used to complete a railroad crossing study. Learn more about Thriving Communities' impact on people and places across the country: https://lnkd.in/d6-YsgsU #InvestingInAmerica #Transportation #ThrivingCommunities

In my previous roles as Director of Engineering in local governments, I stressed to council after council that we should be prepared to fully fund any infrastructure decision we make, and *if* there was a grant program available, it would be a bonus, not a lifeline or essential part of local government finances. With growing awareness of asset management, most infrastructure decisions are really good, but some questionable decisions I've seen: - giving breaks to developers rather than raising DCCs to cover the cost of incremental growth. - using discretionary funding sources (tourism taxes?) to provide "nice to haves" before core infrastructure that supports tourism, sustainability & the local community. - wearing out infrastructure rather than providing appropriate maintenance in the hopes that a replacement will be grant funded. - choosing options that maintain the status quo rather than developing sustainable solutions. - choosing technologies that will massively increase operating and maintenance costs because grant funding was available. Any of these type of decisions should be fair game for provinces to question before approving any grants. It should be about providing sustainable services to communities. Wouldn't it be great if there was a sustainable infrastructure decision rating system to help local governments make more sustainable decisions? Well these do exist and there are experts out there who can assist with things like the Envision rating system from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure.

I was in Ft. Lauderdale last week on an Advisory Services Panel convened by the Urban Land Institute. Parts of the city floods for weeks at a time, and the challenge was to recommend policies to guide the city's limited funds into strengthening their infrastructure. Coastal communities have a toolbox that includes pumping stations, sea walls, and road elevation. All of them are important. None of them are cheap. Working with urban planners, real estate advisors, architects, and engineers, our charge was to focus on raising the roads. How high do they get raised? Which road should be elevated first? How will the city pay for it? How can these decisions be made in an equitable manner? It was an intensive 4-days, and our group spent many late nights wrestling with the issues. I contributed to the funding component, which included recommendations on public-private partnerships and opportunistic grant programs. Kudos to Jim Heid, FASLA, Allison Anderson FAIA, Chris DeWitt, Hannah Glosser, Charnelle Hicks-Gungor, Byron Stigge., Lauren M. Callaghan, and Barbra Gustis. I am in awe of these talented professionals. If you are interested in the recommendations, the final report will be out in a few months. #infrastructure #publicprivatepartnerships #publicfunding

Let’s talk about it….

Here are opportunities to help shape municipal planning on several issues, including planning for a Sturgeon County development, surplus school sites in some Edmonton neighbourhoods, and the future of Castle Downs Park. https://lnkd.in/g3Z4QrP8 #yegcc #yegplanning #yegmetro

We dive into the debate surrounding the light rail funding, where five out of six towns, including substantial financial support for road improvements, show overwhelming support except for Matthews. Discover the implications for local budgets and community growth. #LightRailDebate #CommunitySupport #RoadImprovements #TownFunding #LocalGovernment #MatthewsOpposition #TransportFunding #InfrastructureDevelopment #CommunityDebate #PublicTransportation

Boston Office of Emergency Management—through a Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program—sought to analyze the impact of hurricanes and earthquakes on the region’s housing stock and to recommend policies to create a more robust housing supply. As planning policy experts on Tetra Tech's team, DREAM Collaborative, LLC created a housing policy report geared towards municipal leaders. The report provides a high-level menu of policy choices to enable each community to plan for housing in safer and more resilient locations. Recommendations include: determining appropriate areas for accessible and convenient housing; removing common barriers and impediments to compact and varied housing types; building upon the strength of local relationships in neighborhood organizations; and using government resources to pool efforts within and across community lines. #resilientplanning #boston #housing #planningpolicy #housing