News and Updates
November 21, 2012
On behalf of TOGETHER NORTH JERSEY, we would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!
This Week's Contents:
Project Updates:
-
Changes to the Local Government Capacity Grant Program
Upcoming Events
-
TOGETHER NORTH JERSEY Executive Committee meeting – November 29, 2012, 10 am to 12 pm.
-
TOGETHER NORTH JERSEY Steering Committee meeting - December 11, 2012, 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm.
Learning Opportunities
-
Webinar: Preserving Affordable Housing Near Transit
-
Reclaiming Vacant Properties—5th National Conference
-
Rebuilding A Resilient New Jersey Shore
-
Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference: Building Safe, Healty, Equitable and Prosperous Communities
Funding and Technical Assistance Opportunities
-
Kessler Foundation announces the launch of a Hurricane Sandy Rapid Response Fund.
-
Asset-Based Economic Development/Building Sustainable Rural Communities - Briefing papers now available.
Other News
-
President Obama appoints HUD Secretary Donovan to coordinate federal support for Sandy aftermath
-
Massachusetts Governor Patrick launches two new workforce housing initiatives
Project Updates
Changes to the Local Government Capacity Grant Program:
On
November 13, the State Planning Commission voted to table approval of the Draft State Strategic Plan. While a criteria-based investment framework remains a key element of the Regional Plan for Sustainable Development, this delay in approving the proposed state investment criteria makes the verification of specific investment criteria at the county and municipal level premature at this time. Accordingly, Together North Jersey is
removing Activity 4, Identification/Verification of Priority Growth Investment Areas, Priority Preservation Investment Areas, Alternate Growth Areas, and Limited Growth Areas, from the Local Government Capacity Grant Program. This activity will be conducted, if necessary, at a later stage of the project through a process yet to be determined.
In addition, planning work associated with disaster recovery, resilience, preparedness, and adaptation/mitigation will be added to the list of eligible activities through Activity 5, Elective/Supplemental Activities. The removal of Activity 4 from the LGCGP frees up a considerable amount of the resources available to program participants to dedicate to Elective/Supplemental Activities.
To allow participating counties and cities an opportunity to change their proposed scopes of work and budgets to accommodate this change,
the deadline for submission of Full Proposals is now January 11, 2013. An amendment to the Notice for Funding Availability for the LGCGP is under development, but will not be distributed before the
Thanksgiving holiday. Any questions should be directed to Scott Rowe at NJTPA, srowe@njtpa.org.
TOGETHER NORTH JERSEY Steering Committee
The
November 29 Together North Jersey Steering Committee meeting has been rescheduled for
December 11, 2012 from 1-3:30pm at the NJTPA offices located at One Newark Center (17th Floor) Newark, NJ. An agenda and additional details will be circulated prior to the meeting. Questions or requests for additional information should be directed to Miriam Salerno, miriam.salerno@ejb.rutgers.edu.
TOGETHER NORTH JERSEY Executive Committee
The
October 29 Executive Committee Meeting will be rescheduled for
November 29, 2012 from 10 am to 12:00 pm (this is the slot previously held for the Steering Committee meeting) at the NJTPA offices in Newark.
Reclaiming Vacant Properties—5th National Conference
September 9-11, 2013,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
This 2013 conference, sponsored by the Center for Community Progress, is themed "Investing in the Future: Unlocking Hidden Values." The conference will focus on how the nation's communities are recognizing and capitalizing on the value from their vacant and distressed properties in order to reduce costs, increase revenues, return equity to individuals, and create a stable foundation for future prosperity.
Webinar on "Preserving Affordable Housing Near Transit" hosted by the Implementation Team of the Capacity Building Intermediaries.
Wednesday, Nov. 28, at 2pm EDT
This webinar session is sponsored by the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities at U.S. HUD. The webinar is open to Sustainable Communities Partnership grantees and their consortium partners. This webinar will assist SCP grantees interested or already engaged in the preservation of existing affordable housing near transit. We will be joined by three guest speakers who have extensive experience with development, creation of financing tools, policy and programs all designed to facilitate preservation. Please contact Sasha Forbes
gsforbes@reconnectingamerica.org if you have any questions.
Rebuilding A Resilient New Jersey Shore
Friday, Dec. 7th, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Wilson Hall, Monmouth University, 400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch, NJ
Hosted by NJ Future, this conference will focus on rebuilding the Jersey Shore after the devistation of Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy created a wake-up call on the need to rebuild the Jersey shore in a way that respects nature and protects people, properties and public investments. Come hear expert speakers address key topics, and share your opinion on how we can restore a thriving, healthy and resilient coastal region.
More details will be available beginning the week of Nov. 26.
Registration is open for the 12
th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference: Building Safe, Healty, Equitable and Prosperous Communities, to be held February 7-9, 2013, in Kansas City, MO. The conference will feature a
health track, an
equitable development pre-conference workshop and track, and a set of special
mid-western sessions and tours. For a full conference agenda and registration information, please see the
http://www.newpartners.org/
Kessler Foundation announces the launch of a Hurricane Sandy Rapid Response Fund.
This emergency grant fund is designed to help non-profit organizations meet the immediate needs of people with disabilities in New Jersey affected by the hurricane. Mini-grants in amounts of $2,500 to $10,000 are available. Grant funding will focus on the immediate needs of non-profit organizations serving individuals with disabilities residing in areas of New Jersey affected by Hurricane Sandy. Each organization is limited to one Rapid Response Grant. Current grantees of Kessler Foundation with open grant projects are also eligible to apply for these emergency funds. Multiple requests from a single organization will not be reviewed. For more information about these emergency funds and directions on how to apply for them, please visit our website at
www.kesslerfoundation.org and click on the Program Center tab.
Asset-Based Economic Development/Building Sustainable Rural Communities
This series of three ICMA briefing papers showcase how small communities are tackling sustainability and smart growth through asset-based economic development. The first paper defines asset-based economic development and provides several case studies on industry and industrial clusters. The second paper looks at natural resource strengths and working landscapes. The third paper examines historic and cultural resources as well as existing infrastructure such as Main Streets and town squares.
RestoreYourEconomy.org provides resources and best practice information for public and private stakeholders seeking to rebuild their local economies after a disaster as well as assisting the business community in preparing for a disaster. It is a one-stop shop of disaster preparedness and post-disaster economic recovery resources, tools, event announcements as well as opportunities to connect with peers through social media groups. RestoreYourEconomy.org is currently featuring several great resources for Sandy recovery - check out "News and Resources" on their homepage.
http://restoreyoureconomy.org/
Other News
Last week, President Obama appointed HUD Secretary Donovan to coordinate federal support to governors, mayors and local officials in New York and New Jersey to help the states design and implement post-hurricane redevelopment plans. While FEMA will continue to provide federal resources to support immediate response and recovery efforts, Secretary Donovan will coordinate federal support to the states to help them prioritize redevelopment opportunities and begin to implement plans. Click
here to read more.
Massachusetts Governor Patrick launched two new workforce housing initiatives last week: a
goal to produce 10,000 multi-family units each year -- the first production target of this kind set by any state in the country, and a new policy program, “
Compact Neighborhoods, “which provides incentives to municipalities to create affordable and reasonably dense housing for working families near transit and town centers. These initiatives were among recommendations made by the Governors’ Institute for Community Design – which is supported by HUD and the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, to the Patrick Administration last month. Even though Massachusetts is the center of the nation’s higher education system, the Commonwealth is often unable to retain its skilled young talent because of a shortage of affordable homes and lack of housing choices. See
here for more information.
.
