Regional development in southern New Hampshire

PATRICK’S DAY AS COLDER WEATHER WILL TAKE OVER FOR MID WEEK. WELCOME TO NEW HAMPSHIRE’S BUSINESS. I’M FRED KOCHER IN APRIL AND JUNE 13TH SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE COMMUNITIES IN THE NATIONAL REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION WILL FINALIZE AN AGGRESSIVE AND JOINT REGIONAL PLAN THAT WILL CONFRONT ISSUES SUCH AS AFFORDABLE HOUSING, MANUFACTURING, WORKFORCE SHORTAGE, CLEAN DRINKING WATER AND MORE. HERE ARE THE COMMUNITIES NASHUA HUDSON, PELHAM. HOLLIS, LITCHFIELD, MERRIMACK, AMHERST, MOUNT VERNON, MILFORD. BROOKLINE, MASON, WILTON AND LYNDEBOROUGH. COMPRISED OF NASHUA REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION IS DEVELOPING THE PLAN. NOW. HERE’S SOME OF THE ISSUES THEY’RE FACING AND PREPARING TO CONFRONT. THEY MAY LOOK FAMILIAR TO OTHER PARTS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE AND NORTHERN MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITIES. HERE THEY ARE. HOUSING SHORTAGE, URGENT DRINKING WATER PROTECTION OF SOURCES, WEATHER RISKS, INFRASTRUCTURE FOR FARMERS AND FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORTATION, SAFETY AND DRIVER BEHAVIOR, RIVERS, PROTECTION FROM DEVELOPMENT. AND HERE’S SOME MORE. A SHIFT FROM GROWTH MANAGEMENT TO CATCHING UP. THAT’S INTERESTING. SUBURBAN TOWNS ARE TRANSFORMING WORKFORCE TRAINING. PRIORITY INCENTIVES NEEDED FOR MANUFACTURING JOBS AND DISPOSAL OF ENERGY SECTOR WASTE. WITH ME IN THE STUDIO TO BRIEF US ON THESE ISSUES, AND THE PLAN TO ADDRESS THEM IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NASHUA REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION, WHICH INCLUDES ALL 13 COMMUNITIES. WE JUST PUT UP ON THE SCREEN. JAY MCGRAW. THANK YOU. I PRONOUNCE THAT RIGHT. MINKARA J MAKARA, WELCOME. NICE TO HAVE YOU HERE. THANKS FOR HAVING ME. YOU’RE JUST FINISHING UP THE DRAFT OF THIS PLAN THAT WE JUST OUTLINED FOR THOSE 13 COMMUNITIES. ARE THEY ON BOARD? I WOULD SAY YES, AND WE HOPE TO GET MORE ENGAGEMENT AND INPUT. SO WE WE WORK CLOSELY WITH ALL OF OUR COMMUNITIES. SO JUST BACKING UP VERY BRIEFLY, WE’RE ONE OF NINE REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSIONS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. ALL OF US ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY WORKING ON OUR REGIONAL PLANS AT THE SAME TIME. SO SO THAT IS A ENCOURAGING WHAT ARE THE 1 OR 2 ISSUES AT THE TOP OF YOUR LIST OF ALL THOSE ITEMS WE JUST PUT UP ON THE SCREEN? I MEAN, WITHOUT QUESTIONING, HOUSING REMAINS A TOP PRIORITY FOR OUR COMMUNITIES, FOR OUR STATE. AND, YOU KNOW, RELATED TO THAT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, OF COURSE, AND WATER QUALITY AND WATER QUALITY. THAT’S INTERESTING. WATER QUALITY IS TOP PRIORITY, RIGHT? THE 13 COMMUNITIES IN SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE, YOU’RE ON THE BORDER OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, MASSACHUSETTS, WITH SOME KEY COMMUNITIES IN MASSACHUSETTS JUST ACROSS THE BORDER. KINGSBORO, DUNSTABLE, PEPPERELL AND TOWNSEND. THEY SHARE YOUR GEOGRAPHY AND PROBABLY YOUR ISSUES. ARE YOU WORKING WITH THEM? WE DON’T REALLY WORK AS NEARLY AS CLOSELY WITH OUR NEIGHBORS IN MASSACHUSETTS AS WE SHOULD, SO WE ARE TRYING TO CHANGE THAT. WE’VE DONE A LOT MORE OUTREACH TO OUR COMPATRIOT ORGANIZATION, THE NORTHERN MIDDLESEX COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS, SO WE SHOULD BE WORKING WITH THE BORDER SHOULD NOT BE AS HARD AS IT IS. FUNDING FOR SOME OF THESE PROJECTS TO DEAL WITH SOME OF THESE ISSUES. YOU PROBABLY KNOW CONGRESS HAS REPORTEDLY CAPPED THE COMMUNITY PROJECTS FOR THIS YEAR. THE FUNDING OF THEM. NEW HAMPSHIRE, WHEN THEY FUND THE COMMUNITY PROJECTS, IT’S FROM FEDERAL FUNDS. SO FUNDING IS GOING TO BE AN ISSUE AND A CHALLENGE, I WOULD ASSUME, FOR NOT ONLY THE COMMISSION, BUT FOR THE COMMUNITIES IN PARTICULAR. THAT IS TRUE. FUNDING. FUNDING IS ALWAYS A CHALLENGE. FUNDING IS ALWAYS A STRUGGLE, AND PARTICULARLY WHEN IT COMES TO FEDERAL FUNDING, WHICH HAS BECOME TIGHTER AND TIGHTER. THAT SAID, I THINK OUR COMMUNITIES ARE NIMBLE AND MANY OF OUR COMMUNITIES REALLY DON’T ARE NOT VERY RELIANT ON FEDERAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT FUNDING. SO WE, YOU KNOW, THE CITY OF NASHUA IN PARTICULAR IS RELIANT, I DON’T WANT TO SAY RELIANT, BUT DOES RECEIVE SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF FUNDS. AND IT IS A CHALLENGE. IT’S A CHALLENGE FOR TO KEEP A LOT OF THE PROGRAMS THAT OUR COMMUNITIES DEPEND ON GOING. ABSOLUTELY. YOU’VE INDICATED TO ME THAT SOMETHING YOU TRIPPED ACROSS IS THE PERCENT OF PEOPLE WORKING FROM HOME STILL, ESPECIALLY IN THE AFFLUENT COMMUNITIES SUCH AS HOLLIS AND AMHERST, WHICH ARE IN YOUR COMMISSION, HOW IS THAT IMPACTING ANYTHING YOU’RE DOING WITH PLANNING? SO WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF WORKING ON A REGIONAL PLAN? AS WE DO A DEEP DIVE INTO DATA, AND THAT’S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE FOUND PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC, ABOUT 5% OF OUR LABOR FORCE WORKED REMOTELY. THAT HAS JUMPED TO OVER 17%. AND IN THE COMMUNITIES, AS YOU MENTIONED, SUCH AS AMHERST, IT’S CLOSER TO 30%, 27% IN HOLLIS. SO THAT DRAMATICALLY CHANGES REALLY HOW WE THINK ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN OUR COMMUNITIES, WHAT OUR PRIORITIES NEED TO BE. IT IMPACTS TRANSPORTATION. IT IMPACTS HOW PEOPLE EXPERIENCE THE COMMUNITIES THAT THEY LIVE IN. JAY, I’M GOING TO PUT THIS UP ON NEW HAMPSHIRE’S BUSINESS, WANTS TO THANK NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW AND COMCAST BUSINESS FOR THIS AWARD THAT WE’VE BEEN GIVEN FOR THE THE BEST TELEVISION BUSINESS NEWS. AND WE’RE GOING TO RECEIVE THE AWARD. WE RECEIVED THE AWARD THIS PAST WEEK. WE THANK THEM FOR THIS VERY MUCH. JAY. SARA MINKARA I SAID IT RIGHT. JAY MAKARA, REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF THE NASHUA REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION. THANK YOU. YES, SIR. THANK YOU HERE. AND IF YOU MISSED PART OF THIS BRIEFING ON PLANNING AND ALL THE ISSUES INVOLVED WITH IT IN SOUTHE