North Country Council Projects

North Country Council Projects

 Economic Development

Coos Economic Adjustment Project - EDA Coos County Sudden and Severe Impact Grant Projects

5 Year Coos Economic Action Plan

New EAP Links...

The Coos Economic Action Plan (EAP) will produce a detailed, five-year economic action plan that will be developed under the guidance of a steering committee of County leaders.  EDA will contribute $50,000, DRED will contribute $25,000, the Tillotson Foundation will contribute $18,000, and the CDFA will contribute $7,000.

 NH Business Resource Center Project (DRED)

North County Resource Conservation & Development Renewable Energy Project

NHTC-Berlin Engineering Study Project

Arts Alliance of Northern NH Creative Economy District Inventory Project

NH Rural Development Council Telecom Phase III Feasibility Study

Town of Colebrook Flood Mitigation Engineering

Business and Entrepreneurial Technicl Assistance (BETA)

GREAT in Groveton

 Community Planning

 Stratford Master Plan

The Stratford Master Plan committee has complete the second draft of the new Master Plan with NCC assistance.  To download and review this second draft including cover with table of contents, the plan and associated maps, please click on the links below.

Plan Links:

Map Links:

Grafton County Complex Master Plan

The Grafton County Complex Master Plan is a non-regulatory guiding document that serves communities with the development of regulations, capital expenditures, and long range planning decisions.  Please click on the link below to access the full document.

Bath Master Plan

North Country Council has been working with the Town of Bath to update their Master Plan over the past year. NCC's primary responsibility was to complete the survey and compile the data and information collected by the community. The community of Bath wrote the master plan chapters with NCC's guidance.

(picture courtesy www:http//home.inu.net/branded/scenic/1/s_1_1_bath_nh.jpg)

 This project was funded by the Town of Bath.

Wetland Delineation Project Along the Connecticut River

During two recent ongoing projects: a four year Vernal Pool Inventory Study funded by the Fifteen Mile Falls Mitigation and Enhancement Fund, and a Regional Study for the area funded by the NH Charitable Foundation, a need to improve comprehensive wetland protection, restoration, buffer improvement, inventory, and assessment became apparent. With the assistance of Watershed to Wildlife, NCC will develop working models for nine interested communities to identify wetland complexes. The work will be done over a three year period.  The towns of Lancaster, Northumberland and Dalton have already been completed. Three more communities will be completed each year over the next two years. If you have interest in this service please contact Tara at ext. 20 or John Severance at 444-0000.

This project was funded through the Fifteen Mile Falls Mitigation and Enhancement Fund managed by NH Charitable Foundation. (picture coutesy of Watershed to Wildlife)

 Swift River Local Advisory Committee Assistance

North Country Council assisted the Swift River Local Advisory Committee in applying for funding for some restorative work to a bridge and the Swift River in Conway. The general problem is the river's inability to transport its sediment load, especially bedload consisting of gravel and cobble moved along the river bed through the railroad bridge opening. As a result, material has deposited within the channel upstream of the bridge, leading to a shift in river alignment and erosion of adjacent lands and the railroad embankment.

Floodwaters which would normally flow down the valley over the floodplain are blocked by the embankments and forced through the bridge opening, creating backwater upstream of the bridge and flattening of the water surface and energy slopes. Decreased slope results in decreased shear stress and a decrease in the river’s ability to mobilize bedload. This aggradation and deposition are causing ongoing channel instability.

City of Berlin Wildfire Mitigation Planning

North Country Council received funding through the Bureau of Emergency Management to create a process for Wildfire Mitigation Planning and to conduct 14 plans throughout the North Country. The City of Berlin Wildfire Mitigation Plan is the first plan to be completed, and is awaiting review from FEMA in order for the City to formally adopt.  Some of the appendices are separate files:

This project funded by New Hampshire Bureau of Emergency Management.

Dartmouth Regional Technology Center

On June 29th 2005, North Country Council and Grafton County Economic Development Council became owners of property donated by Dartmouth College for the Dartmouth Regional Technology Center. The initiative is designed to commercialize science and technology- based innovations in precision technology, biotech, biomedical, environmental and life sciences through business incubation, and leverage intellectual capital in the area. The incubator is a way for emerging and potential ideas to get resources and mentoring which accelerates the successful development of new businesses.

The project was funded by the following organizations: US Dept. of Commerce Economic Development Administration, New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority, Tax Credits through CDFA, and New Hampshire Business Finance Authority

Innovative Land Use Guidebook

The Council is working on a collaborative effort with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services  (NHDES), the Office of Energy and Planning (OEP) and the eight other Regional Planning Commissions on the development of the Innovative Land Use Guidebook.  This work is being conducted under the bi-annual Regional Environmental Planning Program (REPP) funded by NHDES.  The purpose of the guidebook is to provide details on how to develop and create innovative land use controls as established under RSA 674:21.

The Regional Planning Commissions with the help of NHDES and OEP, are creating the chapters for the guidebook which will include: 1.) Background and Purpose, 2.) Appropriateness and Context of Use, 3.) Legal Basis, 4.) Examples and Outcomes where applied, 5.) Model Language and Illustrations, and 6.) References.  Each chapter will cover a different innovative land use technique.  The chapters being developed are listed below.

Available Chapters in Draft

  1. Multi-Density Zoning

  2. Environmental Characteristics Zoning

  3. Site-Level Design

Please click on this link Innovative Land Use Planning Techniques: A Handbook for Sustainable Development for more information.

If your town is interested in developing and adopting one of these innovative land use controls, please contact us.  North Country Council will be presenting information on this guidebook in upcoming Community Outreach Programs and Quarterly Representative Meetings.  Stay tuned for meeting dates, times and locations.

 Coordinated Regional Transit Plan

The development of the Coordinated Regional Transit Plan was mandated by the Federal Transit Administration as part of a statewide coordinated planning effort. 

The mandate states that any organization receiving grant funds for Special Needs of Elderly Individuals and Individuals with Disabilities (5310), Job Access Reverse Commute (5316), or the New Freedoms Program (5317) for federal year 2007, beginning October 1, 2006, must be part of a Coordinated Regional Transit Plan. 

In other words, the federal government wants to see that regional organizations are working together to try to be more cost effective and productive while serving the most number of people possible. A plan should be developed to outline steps towards making this effort happen.

This project was funded through the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.

Franconia Master Plan

North Country Council has been working with the Town of Franconia on the update of their Master Plan for the past two years. 

In the first year, the Council assisted the town by analyzing their recently conducted community survey. The results of this survey were used to develop the Vision Statement, Goals and Objectives and Land Use sections of the Town of Franconia Master Plan. 

Last year we concentrated on the supporting chapters in the Master Plan by developing existing conditions, statistics and future recommendations on Housing, Recreation, Transportation, Community Design, Community Facilities, and Natural Resources. 

Below is a final draft of all chapters completed over the last two years.

This project was funded by the Town of Franconia.

 Lyman Master Plan

North Country Council has been working with the Town of Lyman on the update of their Master Plan.  Specifically, work has been done on the town's Goals and Objectives and Land Use Chapters.  The town completed a Community Attitude Survey which serves as a basis for the development of goals and future land use decisions.

This project was funded by the Town of Lyman.