IRASBURG — The Irasburg Selectboard announced that the town has been awarded $8,000 in state funding to support the completion of a town plan.
Awarded through a competitive application process, the grant comes at a particularly welcome moment as Irasburg’s Planning Commission wrestles with complex new state energy planning standards.
The municipal planning funds, appropriated by the State Legislature, are awarded and administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development.
The Northeastern Vermont Development Association, or NVDA, the regional planning commission for the Northeast Kingdom, supported Irasburg’s grant application and will continue to provide advice and guidance to the town’s Planning Commission.
“We are very grateful for this award,” said Selectboard Chair David Warner. “These funds will enable Irasburg’s volunteer citizen planning commission to hire an experienced planning consultant to guide the town’s planning process. Without substantial professional planning expertise, it is almost impossible for small-town planning commissions like ours to meet the state’s ever-more-demanding requirements.”
Irasburg Planning Commission Chair Michael Sanville echoed Warner’s remarks.
“This grant will also support the Planning Commission’s efforts to engage the citizens of Irasburg as much as possible in town planning,” Sanville said. “It will allow us to expand our program of Open Houses and Community Forums on specific planning topics to give citizens the opportunity to weigh in on any subject where they have a particular interest or concern.”
The town plan now in development will be Irasburg’s first.
