September Meeting Follow-Up

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APAPALVB
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Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our Section Meeting, it was great to see you! For everyone who was unable to attend, we hope you can join us next time to discuss upcoming events and other planning initiatives in our region. Our October meeting will be CANCELLED so everyone can prepare for the State Conference in Erie. To quote Dave Hunter, “I’m excited to go to Erie!” Our next meeting will be on Thursday, November 14th on Teams. 

Meeting Highlights

Welcome Steven Schrayer to Section Council

  • Section Council unanimously appointed Steven Schrayer to the vacant Member-at-Large seat. We’re happy to have you on board!

2024 APA State Conference

  • Tomorrow is the last day to use the discounted Early Bird rate for the State Conference. Click here to view the program, register for the event, and book a hotel from our hotel block. 
  • We’ve partnered with the Southeast Section to help coordinate carpooling to the 2024 APA State Conference in Erie for 2024. We are looking for people who are interested in driving and riding within the Southeast and LV-Berks sections. Please visit the following link to sign up or express interest in carpooling or serving as a driver. https://buff.ly/4fZ1TIt

Upcoming Events

  • Stevens & Lee is planning their annual Land Use Law Seminar for Thursday, October 31st. It will start with breakfast and networking at 8 AM and the program from 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM. It will be held at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Center Valley 3350 Center Valley Parkway Center Valley, PA 18034.
  • We are starting preparations for our Annual Event to celebrate our accomplishments and to socialize and network. Like last year, we are tentatively thinking of having it at Hops Fogelsville Hotel, potentially on Thursday, December 5th in the evening. 
  • 2025 APA State Conference: Harrisburg
  • 2026 APA State Conference: Bethlehem

New Section Committees: Education and Event Committees

  • We are looking for volunteers to help serve our section! We have several vacancies on both Section Council and in our Section Committees, and we invite anyone and everyone to consider applying for these positions. More information is below. If you think you might be interested, please fill out this form: Volunteer Interest Form
    • Any AICP member who volunteers their time in any official capacity for the Section, as an officer or as a committee member, may be eligible for up to 8 CM credits.
  • Molly Wood has graciously volunteered to help lead the Education Committee, and she is looking for others who are interested in getting involved. For more information or to get involved, please reach out to Molly Wood at [email protected].

Berks County Planning Commission

  • BCPC is hosting an event, partnering with the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance and the Berks Redevelopment Authority, on Thursday, October 3rd 8am to noon called Building the Boroughs focused on providing support to borough redevelopment. More information will be provided shortly.
  • BCPC, at their October 9th meeting, will be hosting the City of Reading’s planning team to present their new Downtown Strategic Plan. 
  • BCPC is kicking off several joint comprehensive planning initiatives across the county, including the Eastern Berks and Northeastern Berks plans, with the anticipation to seek funding for Western Berks and Southwestern Berks plans shortly after. 
  • BCPC is working on updating their LRTP, with public meetings scheduled in October throughout Berks County.
  • BCPC is hosting the first in-person meeting of the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority at the Saucony Creek Brew Pub on October 28th at 3pm. 

Lehigh Valley Planning Commission

  • LVPC recently held their kickoff meeting of WorkshopLV Multimodal for their Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Plan which focuses on the mobility and accessibility for seniors and people with disabilities. 
  • LVPC launched their Housing Attainability and Supply Strategy on July 26th to address housing shortages in the Lehigh Valley. More information regarding municipal and community outreach will be announced soon.
  • LVPC is preparing a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan as a follow-up to their Priority Climate Action Plan. The CCAP will address all emission sectors in the region and identify goals and actions to reduce emissions. The Greenhouse Gas Inventory for the region has just been updated, and workshops will be planned in the near future.
  • LVPC is preparing to update their Act 167 Stormwater Management Plans across the region covering fifteen different watersheds. Several workshop meetings were already held with municipalities to coordinate technical studies to update H&H analyses for all watersheds in our region.
  • LVPC continues to work with multi municipal planning partners, especially the Slate Belt communities, to continue updating their documents.

Lehigh Valley Consortium of Professional Organizations

  • Save the date for two existing LVCPO events in the coming months:
    • First up, a post-election analysis from Dr. Chris Borlick, political science professor at Muhlenberg College, on Thursday, November 14 at the Barristers Club (1114 W Walnut Street, Allentown, PA). The exact time will be confirmed soon (registration will be at 4 or 4:30 pm followed by the program and a networking happy hour). I will share additional details once I receive them, but please feel free to reach out to Sam McLean if you are interested in learning more. 
    • The second event will be a holiday networking event on Thursday, January 16 at the Barristers Club in the early evening. More details to come!

New Website

  • We’re happy to announce the launch of our new and improved website! This will be our home page for all things planning for the Lehigh Valley and Berks County. Here you can find information about the section, upcoming events and webinars, and local job opportunities in our section. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know.

Upcoming Events 

Employment Opportunities

If you would like to include any events, employment opportunities, or any other updates, please reach out.
Yours truly,

Craig