Planning for Brownfield Community Involvement

Source: Center for Hazardous Substance Research, T. Boguski
3/2007

Community involvement is a key component of successful brownfield redevelopment programs. A community outreach plan is an effective tool for managing community involvement activities. Th e purpose of this guide is to help those who wish to develop and implement a community outreach plan..

Your community outreach plan should be appropriate for the size of your program. Cities with larger, more extensive brownfield programs may expect to have a more extensive long-term community outreach plan. Smaller cities, towns, or non-profit organizations may need a less extensive, shorter term community outreach plan. At a minimum, your plan should demonstrate a commitment to open, two-way communication with the people living or working near the brownfield property being evaluated or targeted for redevelopment.

Goals, Activities, and Schedule

Make a plan and specify what outreach activities will be implemented. Use a timeline to indicate when community outreach activities will occur. Allow time to prepare for successful events. Program evaluation and specific techniques for evaluating each activity should be included in your planning. Activities could include public meetings, brownfield redevelopment workshops, and/or site visits (if the site is considered safe for visiting). Meetings should be scheduled well in advance and at times that are convenient for community participants. This may mean holding meetings during the evening or other times outside of typical business hours. It also includes seeking input from stakeholders, especially potential community participants as to when and where meetings will be held. Distribute information on meetings and other activities in a manner that encourages participation. Announcements and notifications should be targeted toward all potentially affected neighborhoods and stakeholders, and all income and age groups. Th e following are potential ways to announce meetings and activities:

• newspapers
• community newsletters
• notices displayed in stores, libraries, churches, community
• bulletin boards, and other public locations
• announcements on community television programs
• telephone calls or direct mailings to non-governmentalorganizations, and community groups in the area
• door-to-door personal invitations

You may wish to work on a mutually agreeable schedule for meetings and other activities in an initial meeting. If your program is large, it may be appropriate to set up subgroups to meet on specifi c topics, or to organize community activities which will increase community interest and participation in brownfi elds redevelopment decisions.

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Brownfield Grants Overview from EPA

EPA recently held a webinar on its Brownfield Grants.  The now ARCHIVED webinar presents an overview of the EPA's Brownfield Assessment, Cleanup and Revolving Loan program. Grant guidelines for FY13 are expected to be published at the end of summer so taking time now to learn about the program will be especially useful to new applicants. The presenters will go over: basics of the brownfield program; the three types of grants; who is eligible to apply; and what projects the grants cover. This webinar is meant as a primer for the subsequent webinars we'll be hosting in August where we go into much more details for each of the three grants. Those webinars will be held on Aug. 16 - Assessments, Aug. 23 - Cleanup, and Aug. 30 - Revolving Loan Fund.

Links to this ARCHIVED WEBINAR,

PDF -  http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/r9bfoverview_071212/prez/Brownfields-101-7-12-12-Cluin-version-pdf.pdf
Audio - http://clu-in.tv/seminars/tio071212_full.mp3  

Strategies to Spur Disaster Recovery in Rural Communities

Monday, July 30th, 2:30-4:00 pm ET

This free webinar will highlight best practice examples of how to prepare your organization and your business community to be more resilient in the wake of a disaster, providing case examples from rural-based communities. The webinar will feature lessons learned from Joplin, Missouri and its recovery from an EF5 tornado on May 22, 2011 as well as catastrophic flooding in Minot, North Dakota on June 25, 2011.

Hear what Joplin local officials did to prepare a disaster plan to ensure business continuity, as well as their pro-active efforts immediately after the disaster to retain 80 to 90% of their impacted businesses, effectively communicate with local and national media, and develop an action plan to move forward on long-term recovery.

Learn how Minot officials effectively communicated with the public during devastating floods and how the community came together to advocate and procure federal recovery funds in the wake of disaster.

Space is limited, so register today.


Our Expert Speakers:
Jerry Chavez
President and CEO
Minot Area Development Corporation
Minor, North Dakota

At his current position since 2005, Jerry has developed economic development initiatives that produced immediate results while having long term applications. As of May 2012, MADC has facilitated over $750M in capital investment and creation of over 600 new jobs. Prior to joining MADC, Jerry served as the Vice President of Marketing for the Great Falls Development Authority. There, he developed a three-pronged, $300,000 budget marketing plan that has produced 150 new client projects. Jerry has conducted presentations to community-wide groups and civic organizations for the purpose of education and promotion of economic development, necessary infrastructure development and much-needed political cooperation. Jerry has three children and enjoys hunting, fly fishing, hiking, and travel.

Rob O'Brian, CEcD
President
Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce
Joplin, Missouri

Rob O'Brian, President of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Ball State University with a bachelor's degree in telecommunications, and minors in journalism and political science. His civic/business activities include President of the Joplin Business and Industrial Development Corporation, Vice-President of the Joplin Industrial Development Authority, current Board Member and Past-President of the Missouri Economic Development Council, Board Member and Past-President, Missouri Economic Development Financing Association. O'Brian was a member of Governor Blunt's State Government Reform Commission and was instrumental in writing the Enterprise Zone and Quality Jobs Act legislation. Since the May 22, 2011 tornado that devastated one-third of Joplin, O'Brian has been at the forefront of the recovery efforts by amassing resources for the business community to ensure that businesses can rebuild and thrive in the community.

Kirstie Smith
Communications Director
Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce
Joplin, Missouri

Kirstie has more than 19 years of experience in marketing and communications. Prior to joining the chamber in 2005 she held marketing positions at both area health systems in Joplin. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration from Ottawa University with a double major in Marketing and Theatre. Her responsibilities include all marketing decisions, media and public relations, governmental affairs, website design and maintenance duties, editing, writing and all creative design for the area's largest chamber of commerce which serves over 1,100 business members.

About the Free Webinar Series:

IEDC invites you to take advantage of these no-cost online learning events. Attend all remaining five - or any combination - of the new Free "Economic Recovery in Disaster-Impacted Communities" web seminars. Based on real pre-disaster planning and post-disaster experiences, each seminar will equip you to plan and sustain your community's economic recovery in the wake of disaster.

The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) is conducting this web seminar series with grant funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA).

Brownfields and Gas Stations

Source: smartgrowthamerica.org, B. Chang
7/12/12

Across the country abandoned gas stations represent one of the trickiest problems
facing small towns and big cities alike. In particular, old gas stations pose a threat to the land when their underground storage tanks begin to deteriorate, potentially leaking petroleum into the groundwater. A recent New York Times article covered the ways in which the hamlet of High Falls, NY has sought to address the negative community impact of its abandoned gas stations. Investors have begun to clean up and redevelop these lots, and their efforts have turned unattractive, contaminated brownfields into office space, restaurants and small shops. These innovative projects are creating new ways to bring money into the local economy and are helping revitalize the community. Brownfield redevelopment is not without obstacles, however. The small size of these lots can make them challenging to market to potential investors. Complex layers of regulation and funding streams mean that redevelopers, whether public or private, need specialized knowledge to succeed. Often the people with the strongest motivation to redevelop these sites are neighbors and community residents, but these parties are rarely equipped with the knowledge or resources to drive a complicated remediation process, especially with state and federal funding for these projects in short supply.

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