The 2008 Road to Excellence Conference entitled "Putting Intergovernmental Cooperation to Work: Employing Multi-Municipal Planning to Link Communities and Conserve Costs" was sponsored by Comcast and offered in partnership with Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board. Ron Painter, CEO of the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board, spoke on the consequences of the trend in development where residential, commercial, and office developments were spread over the southwest Pennsylvania region, separating where people live and where they work. Ron identified the need for an intergovernmental solution to the consequences of spatial mismatch, focusing on job creation and access and affordable housing.

Click to view the 2008 Road to Excellence Conference Handout Booklet

Court Gould, Executive Director of Sustainable Pittsburgh, spoke about the role of municipal governments in the sustainability of communities. Court defined sustainable community development, and explained that the ways in which local governments respond to economic and social changes will determine the quality of life in a community.

Click to view the 2008 Road to Excellence Conference Handout Booklet

Allen Kukovich, Director of the Governor's Southwest PA Regional Office, gave a progress report on multi-municipal planning in the region. Allen also explained the benefits of multi-municipal planning, and highlighted the state's priorities relating to planning.

Click to view the 2008 Road to Excellence Conference Handout Booklet

The Honorable William Currin, Mayor of Hudson, Ohio, presented a case study of Northeast Ohio's pursuit of regional planning. Mayor Currin explained how the region is working towards a tax-base sharing plan, and identified the role of the Northeast Ohio Mayors and City Managers Association in the program.

Click to view the 2008 Road to Excellence Conference Handout Booklet

The 2008 Road to Excellence Conference closed with a panel discussion on handling the costs and consequences of developments that have regional impact. Panelists identified the criteria of developments of regional impact, and discussed the use of tools such as Transfer of Development Rights to enhance the ability of local governments to respond to developers in their communities. The other panelists were Phil Klotz (left), professional planner for the PA Local Government Commission; Blaine Lucas (second from left), solicitor for several local governments and shareholder in the Public Sector Services and Business Services Groups of Babst, Calland, Clements and Zomnir, P.C.; Denny Puko (center), planning program manager for the Governor's Center for Local Government Services; and John Theilacker (second from right), Associate Director for the Brandywine Conservancy Environmental Management Center.

Click to view the 2008 Road to Excellence Conference Handout Booklet

 

Susan Hockenberry, Executive Director for The Local Government Academy, summed up the lessons learned at the 2008 Road to Excellence Conference and gave an update on the latest enhancements to the Multi-Municipal Planning Grant Program. To date more than $500,000 in grants have been awarded to 24 groups of municipalities. The purpose of this program is to support the creation and implementation of multi-municipal plans in conformance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code (MPC). Applicants are eligible for grants up to $8,500 per municipality. The program is being administered by the Local Government Academy (LGA) with funds from the Heinz Endowments. All grants are contingent on receipt of funds by LGA.

Click to read the Multi-Municipal Planning Grant Program guidelines, or to view the 2008 MMP Program brochure.

Click to view the 2008 Road to Excellence Conference Handout Booklet