January 2020

Western Connecticut
Council of Governments

Welcome to the WestCOG monthly newsletter. It's a great place to find updates and opportunities in the region. You can also get the latest information by following us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook or checking our website.

COG Updates

WestCOG Regional Photo Sharing:
WestCOG is happy to announce a regional photo share hosted on Flickr! This service provides photos of the Western Connecticut region that anyone is free to use and/or share. Most photos were collected over the summer and albums are broken down by municipality. WestCOG will continue to upload new photos of our geographically diverse region. Please take a look and enjoy! https://www.flickr.com/people/westcog/

Regional GIS Parcel Viewer
The Regional GIS Parcel Viewer is out in draft phase, usable for municipal staff. Additional edits are still required until public release. The next major update of parcel and CAMA data is planned for March 2020.

2020-2030 Regional Plan of Conservation and Development
The public comment period has now closed. Thank you to all who provided feedback on the Draft Regional Plan of Conservation and Development. WestCOG will hold a public hearing at 12:30PM on January 16, 2020 at the Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association, 27 Governor Street, Ridgefield, CT 06877, during the regular monthly COG meeting. All interested parties may attend the public hearing and provide comments regarding the potential adoption of the 2020-2030 Western Connecticut Plan of Conservation and Development. The draft Plan is available for inspection at http://plan.westcog.org.

WCEDD January Meeting
The WCEDD met this month for its quarterly meeting to discuss economic activity in the region and to identify legislative priorities. The next meetings will be on April 9 2020, Jul 9 2020, Oct 8 2020.

Upcoming COG, MPO and TAG Meetings

Regional HMP RFQ Pre-bid meeting
January 14, 12 pm
WestCOG
1 Riverside Road, Sandy Hook
More details under 'Requests for Proposals, Grants, and Other Opportunities'

5G Informational Forum
January 15, 7 pm
Ferguson Library Downtown Branch, Stamford
More details under 'Regional News & Events'

WestCOG Board & MPO Meetings
January 16, 11:30 am
Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association

POCD Public Hearing
January 16, 12 pm
Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association

TAG Meeting
February 5, 11 am
Comstock Community Center, Wilton

For more, visit the WestCOG Calendar

WestCOG Has Applied to Five Grants
The New Year was the deadline to apply for projects within OPM’s Regional Performance Incentive Program (RPIP). WestCOG submitted five applications in the fields of Economic Development, Animal Control, Planimetric Updates, Municipal Boundary Delineation, and Transfer Stations. Both the planimetric and municipal boundary grants were applied for in coordination with partner COGs.

WestCOG Hosts Newtown Bike and Trail Committee Meeting
The Newtown Bike and Trail Committee, led by Brid Cradock, will be counting uses of the Fairfield Hills walking trail. Methodology, calibration, data compilation, placement of trail counters, trail surveys, and other topics were discussed as we watched a presentation given by Aaron Budris of NVCOG. Also Charley Tracy and Ryan Faulkner of the CT Trail Census shared hints and helps to organize the count. Amy Mangold, Newtown Parks and Rec, and Rob Sibley, Newtown Land Use, attended. Paula Burton and Kristen Floberg represented WestCOG. Trail counts are expected to begin in the spring of 2020 and continue throughout the year. WestCOG and CT Trail Census will continue to provide technical support for this project.

Monday, Dec. 16, 2019. Meeting to discuss trail census procedures as requested by the Newtown Bike and Trail Committee. Left to right: Charlie Tracy, Ryan Faulkner, Amy Mangold, Kristen Floberg, Paula Burton, Rob Sibley, Aaron Budris, Brid Craddock. Thank you all for attending!

Stamford 2030 District’s Annual Change Makers Awards

In December, the Stamford 2030 District held their 5th Annual Change Makers event to celebrate and recognize projects for their leadership in the areas of energy, water, transportation and resiliency.

The City of Stamford received the Transportation Project Award for their work on retiming of the city’s traffic signals. This project, which was awarded funds in 2017 through the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality Program, sought to evaluate 209 signalized intersections to improve traffic flow in the city. Since it’s completion, Stamford has experienced positive results including a reduction in travel time of 32% in some areas. Prior to beginning the signal retiming project, the city needed to complete the installation of 127,000 feet of fiber optic cabling to connect each of the 209 signalized intersections back to the new State-of-the-Art Traffic Operations Center. The fiber optic trunk cable project was funded by WestCOG through the region’s LOTCIP program.

Garrett Bolella, a Traffic Engineer in Stamford’s Transportation, Traffic, and Parking Department, also received the Emerging Leader Award. Since joining Stamford, Garrett has worked on a number of transportation projects including implementing the city’s first buffered bike lane, establishing a design guide for signs, assisting to adopt the City’s Complete Street legislation, and leading the design of Stamford’s first roundabout.

Congratulations to the City of Stamford!

Requests for Proposals, Grants, and Other Opportunities

Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan RFQ
As announced on our homepage, WestCOG is seeking quotes for the creation of a Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) for its eighteen member communities. Applications are due by Monday, February 10, 2020.
A pre-bid meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 14, 2020 at 12:00 PM ET at the WestCOG offices and by phone at 605-313-5107, access code 500386#. Attendance, by phone or in person, is optional and is not required in order to respond to this RFQ.
More information can be found on our website here: https://westcog.org/about/rfps-grant-opportunities/

Strategic Visioning and Planning RFP
WestCOG and the WestCOG Foundation, Inc. request proposals to guide and execute a strategic visioning and comprehensive planning process. Proposals are due by the end of the application period, February 29, 2020 at 11:59 PM ET. Contact, application instructions, and more information are available on our RFPs and Grants page here: https://westcog.org/about/rfps-grant-opportunities/. Please keep an eye on that page for updates, including a possible pre-bid meeting (please see the RFP for details).

Other opportunities can be found here.

Employment opportunities at WestCOG are posted on our website here, and WestCOG's requests for proposals, qualifications, and other business or funding opportunities are posted here. Check back for open positions and other opportunities!

Regional News & Events

5G Informational Forum at Ferguson Library
A panel of speakers has been invited to give a presentation on the impacts of 5G technology. The presentation will take place this coming Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at 7pm in Stamford at the Ferguson Library Downtown Branch in Stamford, One Public Library Plaza. Speakers will include Frank Clegg, former president of Microsoft Canada and Blake Levitt, an award winning science journalist former contributor of the New York Times, Dr Devra Davis, an expert with radiation and on the subject. \

Other events can be found here.

Do you have news or events you would like to share with the rest of the Region? Send your updates (please include a summary of up to five sentences, and complete links) to Ari at avera@westcog.org.

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Our phone number is:
475-323-2060

Our mailing address is:

Western Connecticut Council of Governments

1 Riverside Road

Sandy Hook, CT 06482

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