Regional Local Government Workshop
|
Spring 2010 Local Government Workshop Friday - May 14, 2010
Burgundy Basin Inn Pittsford, New York
Presenters
Rochelle Bell
Presentation Topic:
Sustainable
Local Governments
Rochelle Bell
has worked for the Monroe County Department of Planning & Development
for 10 years. Prior to joining Monroe County, she worked as a
hydrogeologist for environmental consulting firms in Oregon,
Washington and Iowa. Rochelle currently works with the Monroe
County’s Green Building Design Review Team, ICLEI’s STAR Community
Index; the Irondequoit Bay Coordinating Committee Technical Staff and
the Black Creek Watershed Coalition. Rochelle is V.P. for Lake Plains
Resource Conservation and Development Council and Secretary for the NY
Federation of Resource Conservation and Development Councils.
Rochelle earned her B.S. degree in Geology from Colorado State
University and her M.S. degree in Earth Science and Resources from the
University of California at Davis.
The Planning
and Development Department provides and coordinates a broad range of
programs focusing on job retention and creation, employment and
training services, land use planning and resource conservation as well
as housing and neighborhood preservation. The department integrates
planning services with economic and community development activities
through partnerships with local governments and the private sector.
The Planning and Development Department consists of several divisions
which include Community Development, Economic Development, Planning
Division, and Workforce Development.
John F. Bero
Presentation Topic:
Finding Beauty on Historic Main Streets
John Bero is founder of Bero Architecture P.C., a general practice
firm with specialized expertise in preservation and restoration of
historic buildings, and historic studies and reports such as National
Register nominations, designations of historic districts, etc. Bero
Architecture also assists in recycling historic buildings as part of a
sustainability strategy. Retrofit of historic buildings with modern
technology augments their value while preserving embodied energy, and
is Bero Architecture’s principal contribution to saving the natural
environment while preserving our built environment. In 2008, the firm
was purchased by employees and Mr. Bero now focuses on preservation
aspects of the firm’s services.
Mr. Bero
is a member of the Association for Preservation Technology, National
Trust for Historic Preservation, and Preservation League of New York
State. Mr. Bero holds Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Architecture
degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
Patricia Burke
Patricia Matson is a Land Use
Training Specialist with the New York State Department of State’s
Division of Local Government. Prior to her service at the Department
of State, she worked at the New York State Office of Real Property
Services. Ms. Matson holds a master’s degree in Regional Planning
from the State University of New York at Albany, with an environmental
concentration that studied wind turbine planning considerations, and a
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from St. John Fisher College in
Rochester. Prior to her public service, she was an editor for a
national legal publishing firm.
Presentation Topics: Zoning Board
of Appeals Overview, Planning Board Overview, and
Planning and
Zoning Case Law
Darrin Derosia serves as an
Associate Counsel within the Office of the General Counsel of the New
York State Department of State. His work with the Department comprises
all aspects of local government law. Prior to his work at the
Department of State, Mr. Derosia served as Counsel to the New York
State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness.
He was the legal advisor to the Commission members and staff, helping
to develop and draft the Commission’s report, 21st
Century Local Government, and accompanying technical briefs
(available at
www.nyslocalgov.org).
Previously, Mr. Derosia was
Corporation Counsel for the City of Cohoes, NY from 2000 through 2007.
As such, Mr. Derosia was the chief legal officer for the City and
managed the department of law. He has been an associate at an Albany
law firm and an assistant public defender. Mr. Derosia received a J.D.
from Albany Law School in 1996, and a B.S. from the Pennsylvania State
University in 1989. He is a member of the Committee on Character and
Fitness for the Third Judicial District, and he sits on the Executive
Committee of the Municipal Law Section of the New York State Bar
Association.
P.J. is a CPESC, CPSWQ with over 9 years of experience with stormwater
and erosion control. He is a NYS DEC Certified Instructor of the
required 4-hour Erosion and Sediment Control Training Course. P.J.
has extensive experience with construction inspection and SWPPP review
in both MS4 and non-MS4 communities. P.J. currently serves as the
Senior District Manager for Ontario County Soil and Water Conservation
District, and as the Vice Chairman of the Ontario County Water
Resources Council.
The Ontario County Soil and Water Conservation District has been
serving the community since it was formed in 1940. The District
provides technical assistance and educational outreach to watershed
groups, municipalities, farmers and citizens within Ontario County.
The District is very active in streambank stabilization projects,
individual wastewater treatment systems design and inspection,
watershed inspection for Canandaigua Lake, environmental education,
stormwater management and erosion control, watershed management
planning and agricultural environmental management.
Rick Hauser,
AIA, LEED AP
Presentation Topic:
Main Street LLC:
Community
Entrepreneurism and the
Case for Private Sector Rehab
Rick Hauser is founder and partner of In.Site: Architecture and has
taught architecture and urban design at Hobart & William Smith
Colleges for twelve years. His expertise in Main Street revitalization
originally grew out of numerous volunteer civic projects he
spearheaded over the past 15 years. He is engaged in revitalization
efforts from adaptive re-use of historic structures to serving as a
revitalization consultant for small cities and towns. Most recently,
Mr. Hauser has coupled his architectural skills with community
entrepreneurism towards solving the problem of vacant downtown
buildings. He spearheaded the creation of a community-wide, for-profit
LLC in Perry, NY where over 20 members invested over $300,000 towards
the purchase, design and rehabilitation of key downtown buildings.
Matthew Ingalls,
Trained in planning, urban design, and
landscape architecture, Matt brings a unique set of skills to projects
he is involved with. He has a detailed understanding of
interdisciplinary collaboration and how planning and design work
together to shape communities.
Matt
received a bachelor’s degree in urban economics from the University at
Buffalo and a master’s degree in landscape architecture and a master’s
degree in city and regional planning from Ohio State’s Knowlton School
of Architecture. He is a member of the American Institute of
Certified Planners (AICP), the American Planning Association, and the
American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).
Tom Kicior
Tom is a Planner for the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning
Council. His areas of interest include community development, land
use planning, municipal code and zoning law, transportation planning,
database development, GIS, and socio-economic and demographic data
analysis. Tom received a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning
degree as well as a dual undergraduate degree in Environmental Design
and Urban and Public Policy, from the State University of New York at
Buffalo.
Diane C. Kozlowski
Diane Kozlowski is the Chief of
the New York Permit Evaluation Section for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE), Buffalo District, Regulatory Branch. A graduate of
the State University College at Buffalo, with degrees in Biology and
Physical Geography/Conservation, she has been with the Corps for
twenty-two years. While most of her career has been with the Buffalo
District Regulatory Branch, she also worked in the Philadelphia
District Regulatory Branch, Headquarters, USACE in Washington, D.C.,
and served as the Continuing Authorities Program Manager in the
Buffalo District Planning Branch, and as a Project Manager for the
Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP).
Ms. Kozlowski supervises twelve
staff biologists responsible for the establishment and review of
jurisdictional determinations, including wetland delineations, and
evaluation of complex permit actions including compensatory mitigation
proposals subject to Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act and
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Permit actions include activities
such as residential and commercial developments, large commercial
marinas, landfill sitings, utility and energy projects, and highway
maintenance and construction. Her duties also include the review and
development of local policies and local operating procedures both
internal to the Regulatory Branch and as a means of fostering working
relationships with federal and state agencies.
Ms. Kozlowski is currently
serving a temporary detail as Regulatory Branch Chief for the Buffalo
District. Area of responsibility includes the western and central
portions of NYS, including Lakes Erie and Ontario, and St. Lawrence
River drainage, as well as the northern 1/3 of Ohio which drains to
Lake Erie.
Sean Maguire, AICP
Presentation Topic:
Options for Local Government Consolidation and Service Delivery
Efficiency
Sean M. Maguire, AICP is a certified planner and Land Use Training
Specialist with the New York State Department of State. Mr. Maguire
presents training programs and provides technical assistance to local
municipal officials on government efficiency, intermunicipal
cooperation and land use planning. He is a graduate of the University
at Albany with degrees in Geography and Regional Planning. Mr.
Maguire is currently completing coursework in Public Administration
and Local Government Management. Previously, Mr. Maguire was the
Senior Economic Development Planner for Albany County where he
administered the Albany County Empire Zone and the Albany County
Planning Board. Mr. Maguire supports an intermunicipal approach to
planning and economic development. At home, Mr. Maguire is a fire
district commissioner and volunteer firefighter in the Town of
Guilderland, NY.
Howard McCulloch
Howard has
been a Roundabout Design Specialist at NYSDOT since 1999. Since then,
Howard has been involved with almost every roundabout project in New
York State. His participation in these
projects ranges from preliminary comments on a proposed site’s
feasibility to become a roundabout to final design plan development
and review. Howard is responsible for
roundabout overviews and roundabout design presentations throughout
New York State. He
has also
presented on roundabout design in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island,
Vermont, Pennsylvania, Montana and several other states. Howard
received a NYSDOT “Excellence in Engineering” award in 2001 for his
contribution towards NYSDOT’s roundabout initiative. In October 2002,
Howard was selected as a co-recipient of the ITE New York Upstate
Section’s Young Transportation Professional of the Year Award for
safety improvements to the Latham traffic circle using roundabout
design principles. Howard was a major contributor towards the
development of the base images for the 2009 Federal MUTCD on
roundabout striping and “fish hook” arrows and is also on the panel
for NCHRP 3-78 “Crossing Solutions for Visually Impaired Pedestrians
at Roundabouts and Channelized Turn Lanes.”
Judy A. Robinson
Presentation Topic:
US Army Corps
of Engineers Wetland Program: What Local Governments Need to Know and
Judy Robinson is a
biologist/project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Buffalo District, New York Regulatory Section currently assigned to
the Auburn Field Office. Judy earned her Bachelor’s Degree from the
University of Florida with a major in Wildlife Ecology and a minor in
Forestry. She earned her Master’s degree from SUNY Brockport with
wetland research and thesis titled “Follow-up Vegetation and Avifaunal
Surveys on Wetlands Restored Through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service Partners for Wildlife Program.” This research was a
continuation of studies conducted by Stephen Brown (Cornell University
Ph.D) on 15 restored wetlands in Jefferson County, New York. In
addition to vegetation and marsh bird surveys, included audio
amphibian surveys and the installation of herp “pitfall” traps.
In her previous life, Judy has
been a field biologist since 1989 and has collected and analyzed data
associated with a nutrient recycling study in slash pine plantations
for the Forestry Department at the University of Florida, she was a
project manager for several USDA funded studies for four years at the
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York
(Cornell University), she was a senior wetland biologist at
Engineering and Consulting firms in northern Virginia where she
trained staff to delineate wetlands, compiled delineation reports and
designed compensatory mitigation plans, and in Florida where duties
included supervision of the relocation/construction of a scrub oak
community and gopher tortoise surveys. She also worked as a wetland
regulatory specialist/project manager at the Department of
Environmental Quality for the State of Virginia for three years where
she processed permits, reviewed compensatory mitigation plans, made
on-site visits to review proposed impacts, in-process construction
activities, and mitigation sites.
Presentation Topic:
Sustainability through Community Planning and Design
Mr. Robinson is a registered
landscape architect with more than sixteen years of professional
experience designing and managing projects throughout the United
States and in Japan. He is a graduate of the University of Washington
(Seattle) with a Master of Landscape Architecture degree and the
University of Massachusetts (Amherst) with a Bachelor of Science
degree in Arboriculture and Urban Forestry. Mr. Robinson also attended
Kobe University on a grant from the Japanese Ministry of Education,
subsequently working in Osaka, Japan as an environmental planning
consultant. His specialties include merging pedestrian and bicycle
circulation systems with sustainable site development strategies.
Mr. Robinson is a
certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
Accredited Professional. He has served as Project Manager and Project
Designer for related projects including: El Camino Trail in Rochester
(feasibility, planning and conceptual design), Meridian Centre and
Corbett’s Glen Nature Park in Brighton (2007 and 2008 ASLA design
awards, respectively), The Rochester Vineyard Urban Agricultural
Center (2005 ASLA design award), Ellison Area Parks Master Plan
Updates for Monroe County, Southside Waterfront Redevelopment Concept
Plan and Canal Plan for the Village of Spencerport, Irondequoit Creek
Valley Multi-Use Trail Project in Penfield, Dewey Avenue Corridor
Study and Traffic Calming Study in Greece, the Town of Penfield
Bicycle Facilities Master Plan, and Conkey Corners Park in Rochester
(2009 ASLA design award).
Currently, he is project manager
for the planning and design of an improved bicycle transportation
network at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Mr. Robinson was
born and raised in the Rochester area, and regularly commutes by
bicycle to EDR’s Rochester office.
Environmental Design & Research,
Landscape Architecture, Planning, Environmental Services, Engineering
and Surveying, P.C. (EDR) was founded in 1979 on the principles of
resource-based design and planning. The firm applies an integrated
approach that considers an array of factors (environmental, aesthetic,
cultural, historical, social, and economic) to deliver projects of
lasting civic and environmental value. As practitioners of
sustainable design, EDR considers the natural systems of a site as the
starting point for concept development.
EDR
professionals collaborate across disciplines on behalf of clients
throughout the Northeast. Drawing upon the talents and skills of
nearly 50 staff members, EDR offers landscape architecture,
environmental management, community planning, visual communication,
and civil engineering from offices in Syracuse, Rochester, and
Buffalo. EDR’s memberships include the U.S. Green Building Council,
the American Wind Energy Association, and the American Society of
Landscape Architects
Larry Simpson, President
Presentation Topic:
Clean Energy
Grants and Incentives for Your Community
Larry
Simpson is the president of Blue Springs Energy, which helps
communities find and participate in clean energy programs with a
web-based solution and related consulting services for grants,
incentives and tax credits in energy efficiency, renewable energy,
demand response, and carbon mitigation.
Mr.
Simpson’s experience includes Director, Renewable Energy Network of
Entrepreneurs in Western New York (RENEW NY), writing the business
plan and leading sales and marketing for Connected Energy Corp., an IT
solution for remote management of energy assets, and raising over
$5,300,000 in venture and angel capital funding as co-founder,
President and CEO of the Web Product Realization Network (WebPRN).
Simpson also led over 140 consultants providing strategic, IT, and new
product consulting at Questra Corporation, and his career began at
Motorola, where over 11 years became a vice president of market
development and sales with > $400 million worldwide responsibility in
the Semiconductor Products Sector.
Mr.
Simpson continues to serve periodically on New York State Research and
Development Authority (NYSERDA) and US Department of Energy (DOE)
Technical Evaluation Panels to review and recommend funding on
submitted proposals. He has been an invited speaker or panelist at
tens of energy events over the past 10 years, and a Rochester Democrat
& Chronicle RocEarth weekly columnist for Q&A on clean energy
incentives.
Education
includes Master of Business Administration in finance from Rochester
Institute of Technology, and Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering
and Management from Clarkson University.
J.C. Smith
Presentation Topic:
Funding for Green Approaches
to Meet Clean Water Infrastructure Needs
Mr. Smith graduated from Cornell University in 1983 with a degree in
Natural Resources Management. For 11 years he was employed by the
Wayne County (NY) Soil and Water Conservation District, serving as the
District Manager for 5 of those years. Following that he served as the
first Watershed Manager of the Keuka Watershed Improvement
Cooperative, the on-site wastewater water system program developed by
the municipalities in the Keuka Lake watershed. Currently he is
employed by the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation where he
works in the Community Assistance program. There he assists small and
rural communities in development of wastewater treatment and water
supply projects. He has served in an advisory capacity to development
of decentralized wastewater management programs on Cape Cod, to the
NSF International on-site wastewater system inspector certification
program, the fourth phase of the National Onsite Demonstration
Project, and was a past member of NYS Onsite Wastewater Treatment
Training Center steering committee.
Presentation Topics:
Erin Thomas is a Land Use
Training Specialist with the New York State Department of State’s
Division of Local Government. Prior to her service with the
Department of State, she worked for the City of Cohoes, NY in several
capacities over the course of four years. Starting in 2003 as the
Administrator for the Cohoes Local Development Corporation, her work
focused on developing support services for new and existing
businesses, and administering grants for residential and commercial
rehabilitation, primarily in the downtown business district. As City
Planner and Zoning Enforcement Officer, she was responsible for
oversight of the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and Historic
Preservation & Architectural Review Board. Her contributions also
included assistance with a city-wide rezoning that took effect in
mid-2006. She possesses a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and
Urban Studies & Planning from the State University at Albany.
The Division of Local Government
provides training and technical assistance to local governments and
community organizations throughout the state and helps local officials
solve problems involving basic powers and duties, public works,
municipal organization, planning, land use and regulatory controls,
and community development.
Kyle
Wilber
Presentation Topic:
Options for Local Government Consolidation and Service Delivery
Efficiency
Kyle Wilber is a Municipal
Management Consultant with the New York State Department of State. He
has dedicated the majority of his professional career, as well as much
of his public life to local government service. This has included the
promotion of sustainable communities through programs like the New
York City Watershed Memorandum of Agreement and the New York State
Quality Communities Initiative. Currently, Kyle is responsible for
the implementation of the Local Government Efficiency program to
assist local governments identify opportunities to reduce costs and
increase the efficiencies of local service delivery. He is also the
New York State Program Manager, for the Appalachian Regional
Commission, a federal-state-local partnership that promotes community
development throughout the spine of the Appalachian Mountains. In his
free time he is very active in local government activities in his home
community, currently serving as the Chairman of the Town of Ghent
Zoning Board of Appeals and as a Lieutenant in the Ghent Volunteer
Fire Company. Kyle holds a Bachelors Degree in Geography and Urban
Planning from the University of Binghamton. |
|
50
West Main Street, Suite 8107
Rochester, New York 14614
tel:
585.454.0190
fax: 585.454.0191
Last Modified: September 15, 2010