Village of Shelburne Falls Rapid Recovery Plan

Last week, the first of two Community Meetings was held as part of the process for creating a rapid recovery plan for the Village. The goal of the plan is to identify actions to help the Village recover more quickly from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the meeting, there was an overview of the framework being used to create the plan and the data collected. There was also a discussion that identified the ten priority projects to include in the plan. Click here to view the presentation slides from the June 16th meeting.

The next phase of the planning process is to further define and determine next steps for each of the ten priority projects. We appreciate you volunteering to help with this process! We have grouped these ten projects into four topic areas – see below. In July and August, we will hold two meetings for each topic area to discuss the individual projects. The goal is to complete a “project rubric” for each project that identifies potential partners, resources, action steps and more. All are welcome to participate in these meetings. If you know someone who may be interested in participating, please forward this email to them and encourage them to reach out to me at jatwood@frcog.org, so I can add them to this email list. Soon, the schedule of these meetings will also be posted on the FRCOG website here and on the Buckland and Shelburne municipal websites.

The first topic area meetings will be held the week of July 7-8 and the second round of meetings will be held the week of July 14th and the third round will be held on July 21st. All topic area meetings will be held on Zoom. The second Community Meeting will be held as a hybrid in-person and Zoom meeting in late August (date to be determined). At the Community Meeting, we will review the project rubrics and draft plan. Comments from the Community Meeting will be incorporated into the final plan to be submitted by the Towns to DHCD by August 31.

For inspiration in advance of the topic area meetings, we recommend checking out resources provided by MA Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD). They offer concise examples of Best Practices in the project categories of: public property, private property, revenue and sales, arts and culture, administrative capacity, and business support. They also have recorded webinars with panels of experts (click here and scroll down halfway down page to view). If we need expertise for a particular project, we have the opportunity to ask DHCD for access to a subject matter expert for consultation. Please keep these resources in mind as we move forward with project development.

GROUPINGS OF PRIOIRTY PROJECTS BY TOPIC AREA

Infrastructure Projects (Wed. July 7 at 5:30 pm)

  • Implement railyard parking lot redesign
  • Paint and structural improvements to Bridge of Flowers

To register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sfuusqTgjHNLDzcavi_bj5azVbxzPwfrQ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Coordination & Arts (Thur. July 8 at 5:30 pm)

  • Increase administrative capacity for project implementation /Business Association
  • Update and maintain ShelburneFalls.com website
  • More cultural events/activities

To register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcqc-2urzosHdTYCwKJ2g44CXmfdnHNplFZ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Village Center Spaces (Wed. July 14 at 5:30 pm)

  • Establish publicly accessible bathrooms (available on weekends and evenings)
  • Improve/develop public spaces and seating areas (such as a pocket park)
  • Create more opportunities for outdoor dining & selling

To register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdO2qrT8pGdG4u6OV4tHw1DefooWw2u0Y

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Village Connections (Wed. July 21 at 5:30 pm on Zoom)

  • Implement River Trail connecting the Village to the Deerfield River
  • Connect Farmer’s Market to Village

To register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEsf-6spj8vH9NkHQBxZ7mOiriIVtIfJyty

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.