Essex Heritage Web Site Changes and Smart Growth Study Results

Changes to the Essex Heritage Web Site

The signature event offered by Essex Heritage each year is: Trails and Sails...A Weekend of Walks and Water. Every year we have tried to improve the way clients are serviced. This year an electronic change has been prepared that we believe will make this September event even more customer friendly. Right now on the Essex Heritage web site registered participants can begin to pre-plan their weekend by signing on and creating and printing itineraries and registering for events. Just before the event on September 26-28, Essex Heritage will send an e-mail reminder to participants to help them with scheduling. We are pleased that these technical improvements have been made and that they will allow Trails and Sails participants more latitude to plan and reschedule as their needs change.

Smart Growth in Essex County

Essex Heritage has always been a strong supporter of the principal of smart growth in this region. In the last round of ENHC Partnership Grants we provided funding to the Essex County Forum to study and publish a report on that process. That work has been completed and the following e-mail was recently received at ENHC that outlines the results of the study, We thank Mary Whitney of the Essex County Forum for all of her work, and as it notes in the e-mail, Mary is leaving the forum, and we wish her well. The message she sent is self explanatory as we are pleased to print the message as follows:

I'm pleased to announce the publication of Way to Grow: a Celebration of Smart Growth in Essex County . Through partial funding from the Essex National Heritage Commission we have created a collection of case studies that showcases a wide array of smart growth projects and programs in Essex County. They each incorporate elements of success that can help guide initiatives in other communities. When we first issued the RFP for this publication, many communities responded with more projects than we could highlight. This is great news, as it means we are making progress in our efforts to find a balance between the pressures of growth and conservation of resources. You can access the case studies at http://essexcountyforum.org/guides14.html.

With some sadness and excitement for the next chapter, I also am letting you know that I will no longer be directing the Essex County Forum. This work has been one of the most interesting and challenging projects in my career and I thank all of you for your support. Because of your dedication and involvement, I look forward with optimism to a future in which our communities will continue to be great places to live, work, and play. I can be reached at 978-621-2830 ormwhit8@gmail.com. For Essex County Forum business, please contact the Essex County Community Foundation at 978-777-8876.

Many thanks again for your support and I wish you all the best!