2005-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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and public safety in the event of a storm and can sig- R Report of the nificantly reduce the impact of disasters in the future, D Planning Department including the cost of post-disaster cleanup. It provides a for better identification of existing mitigation mea- ' sures and for a proactive Town response to natural haz- D To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and the ard-related emergencies. Approval of the plan also re Citizens of the Town of Mashpee provides the Town with points under the FEMA h During 2005, the Department continued to pro- Community Rating System (CRS). Once the Town a, completes the CRS application and becomes certified, ti vide the Town with the highest quality planning advice there would be a subsequent lowering of flood insur- rf and standards,while working on a wide variety of pro- jects in a great variety of areas with many Town ances rates. to Boards, developers and residents. With the assistance of$16,000 in grants obtained Unfortunately, for the latter half of the year, we from Barnstable County, Eric and other Town staff, had to do so without the services of our 13-year along with the Affordable Housing Committee and the Administrative Assistant Myra Suchenicz and firm of McGregor & Associates, developed an fi Assistant Planner Eric Smith, who had served the Affordable Housing & Planned Production Plan. I department well for more than 6 years. Myra,who had After a number of revisions,the Plan was approved by I earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration,left the Mass. Department of Housing and Community t] in March to become Assistant Town Administrator in Development in June 2005. The plan will guide the p Orleans. Eric became the first Town Planner for the Town's efforts to increase the supply of affordable Town Of Ashburnham. Both were highly qualified, housing,while giving the Town more leverage in deal- hard working individuals who are sorely missed. Both ing with "4013" applications by private developers. also deserved these promotional opportunities and will do a great job in their new positions. While continuing to maintain and develop the I Department's Geographic Information System (GIS). c In April, we welcomed Charlotte Garron to fill Eric was also successful in obtaining funding from the t, Myra's position, having moved her upstairs from the Cable and Advanced Technology Advisory Board for r Health Department, where she served for five years as implementation of a GIS Internet site through which a Administrative Secretary. Our Assistant Planner posi- other Town departments and the general public will be tion remains unfilled, sorely limiting our ability to able to access many of the Town's GIS mapping 1 resources, including parcel maps, zoning, planimetric 1 keep up with the demands on the department,particu- lady with regard to long-range planning projects. data and aerial photography. Just before Eric left at � With updating of the Comprehensive Plan required in the end of June,the Town signed a contract with Camp 1 the next two years and development showing no signs Dresser & McKee, Inc. to develop the site using 1 of slowing down, filling the position with a qualified ArcIMS software. The department, along with the t individual is most urgently needed. MIS and Assessing departments, has been working t with CDM on this project, with the new website Before he left, Eric was able to complete two undergoing design review as the year ended and avail- C major projects and get the ball rolling on a third. ability to the public anticipated in early 2006. In addi- tion, working with Applied Geographics, Inc. and Working with a Local Multiple-Hazard Charles H. Sells, Inc., our GIS planimetric data was ;t Community Planning Team made up of representa- updated based on aerial photography done in April tives from a number of Town departments and other 2004. Quality control reviews were completed in ; agencies Eric completed the Town of Mashpee Pre- April 2005 and the updated mapping became available i F! for use in May. Using our GIS mapping ca abilities, i Disaster Mitigation Plan, required to comply with the Y g PP g P 1 Federal Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 and to qualify the Department also generated dozens of maps for the I for future federal post-disaster mitigation grant fund- Planning Board, other departments and the public, as ing under the FEMA's (Federal Emergency well as for specific planning projects. Management Agency) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. The required FEMA approval of the Plan 2005 also saw the completion of a Joint Land was received in March 2005. Implementation of the Use Study with the Massachusetts Military Plan's recommendations will help safeguard personal Reservation, the other towns surrounding the 138