We are pleased to welcome the Planning Department's first summer planning intern, Gina Clithero. Gina is joining us May 15 through August 11. She was selected among a competitive pool of applicants through the University of Vermont's Rubenstien School of Natural Resources Perennial Internship Program, which funds 120 hours of the internship. Milton joins Williston and Colchester as host municipalities benefiting from this well-structured program.
Gina is native to central Vermont and comes to us as a
well-recommended junior, pursuing a major in natural resource planning with
interdisciplinary coursework in sustainable development, human geographies,
environmental science, ecological economics and environmental policy.
True to Vermont, Gina has a special interest in agriculture and has conducted
behavioral science research and outreach on institutional food systems at
UVM. This work shows a commitment to advancing our working lands, an
important sector of our economy.
This project-based natural resources planning internship
will build on Gina's system thinking by focusing on stormwater public policy
choices. With support from the Town's planning staff and the regional
planning community, part of Gina's week will be spent investigating how
federal, state and local actions interact to govern and manage stormwater in
Vermont communities in order to produce an advisory report (in partnership with
volunteer boards and commissions) that makes justified recommendations on four
elements:
1)
Long-term green
stormwater infrastructure and low-impact development GOALS for the Comprehensive
Town Plan.
2)
Infrastructure TECHNOLOGIES for the Public
Works Specifications and/or Development Regulations, under review by
the Infrastructure Standards Committee.
3)
Low impact development REGULATIONS for the Development
Regulations.
4)
Three specific, public, demonstration PROJECTS
(and potential grant-funding sources) for consideration by the Selectboard in
the 2019-2024 Capital Improvement Plan.
The final deliverable will educate and offer a platform
for action, framing choices the Town’s leadership can make to lessen
development impact, protect water quality, and reduce municipal expense and
liability.
The other part of Gina's time will be assisting with the Town's
2018-2026 Plan
update, implementing Plan outreach materials that enable the Town to
gather quantitative and qualitative feedback from citizens and stakeholders in
a way that efficiently informs the Plan, guiding structure, content and
decisions about community priorities. More about this project soon!
From questions about how rip rap is installed to
provisions in Vermont's Clean Water Act, Gina may be reaching out and asking
questions to learn from your expertise and account for the realities we each
face in a growing Town.
Stop by to introduce
yourself and welcome Gina to the team!
