{"id":1207,"date":"2020-07-20T18:36:37","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T18:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/?p=1207"},"modified":"2020-07-21T22:57:52","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T22:57:52","slug":"trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/","title":{"rendered":"TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC) has unilaterally dumped the Town of Norwich from the Regional Energy Coordinator pilot project. That decision is apparent from the series of emails in the Selectboard packet for the July 22 meeting<\/a>, starting at page 153. Norwich’s sin: asking that the seven towns funding the project have a say in its administration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My imperfect understanding is that seven towns banded together to hire a regional energy coordinator as a one year pilot project. Voters in Norwich approved participation and funding (\u2248$30,000) by passing Article 9<\/a>. The coordinator position was “based at” TRORC according to the Town Meeting Article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coordinator’s work “will focus on energy efficiency, conservation, use, and renewable production by the participating towns in their operations,” according to the 6\/29\/20 draft agreement. See Selectboard packet for July 8 meeting<\/a>, at page 37. The draft agreement also created a Steering Committee consisting of a representative from each participating town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns about the role of Steering Committee <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Town of Norwich raised concerns about the role of the Steering Committee. TRORC viewed the Committee as advisory. The Norwich Selectboard wanted the Committee to have greater sway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an email to Peter Gregory, the Executive Director of TRORC, Norwich Selectboard member John Langhus said,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current draft of the Agreement was marked up by TRORC and has stripped away any meaningful participation by the Committee in the management of this relationship. A role that has no accountability except to Pete\u00ec Gregory, who himself has no accountability to our Towns, is very much at odds with what Norwich was pitched when considering this role and also with what was reflected in the initial draft of the Agreement. We have always envisioned this as multi-Town collaboration, with a facilitation role played by TRORC. Not as a new TRORC position with a rubber-stamp Committee.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The response from TRORC was swift, coming the next day, immediately after a emergency meeting of the TRORC Executive Committee<\/a>. “Upon reflection on the concerns you and the Selectboard raised, it appears that the best thing for all parties, is to move forward without Norwich this year,” said Mr. Gregory in an email. “The urgency of the project for the remaining towns dictates that we move forward.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hmm. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The materials in the Selectboard packet indicate that TRORC did not consult with the six other participating towns, before giving Norwich the boot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s Next?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, the Selectboard set a municipal tax rate that included funding for Article 9. That leaves the door open for a reconciliation. In addition, the Regional Energy Coordinator is topic number 7 on the Selectboard agenda for July 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never miss a new post on the Norwich Observer. Subscribe to my blog by submitting your email address in the subscribe box in the right column above. Thanks!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC) has unilaterally dumped the Town of Norwich from the Regional Energy Coordinator pilot project. That decision is apparent from the series of emails in the Selectboard packet for the July 22 meeting, starting at page 153. Norwich’s sin: asking that the seven towns funding the project have a say in its administration. My imperfect understanding is that seven towns banded together to hire a regional energy coordinator as a one year pilot project. Voters Continue reading TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,51],"tags":[42],"class_list":["post-1207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy-coordinator","category-trorc","tag-norwich-vt"],"yoast_head":"\nTRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project - Norwich Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project - Norwich Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC) has unilaterally dumped the Town of Norwich from the Regional Energy Coordinator pilot project. That decision is apparent from the series of emails in the Selectboard packet for the July 22 meeting, starting at page 153. Norwich’s sin: asking that the seven towns funding the project have a say in its administration. My imperfect understanding is that seven towns banded together to hire a regional energy coordinator as a one year pilot project. Voters Continue reading TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project→\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Norwich Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-20T18:36:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-21T22:57:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"CTK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"CTK\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/20\\\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/20\\\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"CTK\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7c777bca932c48863421eb322d49c18d\"},\"headline\":\"TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-20T18:36:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-21T22:57:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/20\\\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":479,\"commentCount\":3,\"keywords\":[\"Norwich VT\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Energy Coordinator\",\"TRORC\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/20\\\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/20\\\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/20\\\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\\\/\",\"name\":\"TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project - Norwich Observer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-20T18:36:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-21T22:57:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7c777bca932c48863421eb322d49c18d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/20\\\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/20\\\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/index.php\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/20\\\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Norwich Observer\",\"description\":\"Occasional news and commentary about local government in Norwich, VT\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7c777bca932c48863421eb322d49c18d\",\"name\":\"CTK\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/11840c9a170ac22dbf5bc0397622f4e4.jpg?ver=1776127237\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/11840c9a170ac22dbf5bc0397622f4e4.jpg?ver=1776127237\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/11840c9a170ac22dbf5bc0397622f4e4.jpg?ver=1776127237\",\"caption\":\"CTK\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/norwichobserver.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/ctk\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project - Norwich Observer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project - Norwich Observer","og_description":"Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC) has unilaterally dumped the Town of Norwich from the Regional Energy Coordinator pilot project. That decision is apparent from the series of emails in the Selectboard packet for the July 22 meeting, starting at page 153. Norwich’s sin: asking that the seven towns funding the project have a say in its administration. My imperfect understanding is that seven towns banded together to hire a regional energy coordinator as a one year pilot project. Voters Continue reading TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project→","og_url":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/","og_site_name":"Norwich Observer","article_published_time":"2020-07-20T18:36:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-21T22:57:52+00:00","author":"CTK","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"CTK","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/"},"author":{"name":"CTK","@id":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7c777bca932c48863421eb322d49c18d"},"headline":"TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project","datePublished":"2020-07-20T18:36:37+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-21T22:57:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/"},"wordCount":479,"commentCount":3,"keywords":["Norwich VT"],"articleSection":["Energy Coordinator","TRORC"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/","url":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/","name":"TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project - Norwich Observer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-07-20T18:36:37+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-21T22:57:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7c777bca932c48863421eb322d49c18d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/20\/trorc-dumps-norwich-from-regional-energy-coordinator-project\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TRORC dumps Norwich from Regional Energy Coordinator project"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/","name":"Norwich Observer","description":"Occasional news and commentary about local government in Norwich, VT","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7c777bca932c48863421eb322d49c18d","name":"CTK","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/11840c9a170ac22dbf5bc0397622f4e4.jpg?ver=1776127237","url":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/11840c9a170ac22dbf5bc0397622f4e4.jpg?ver=1776127237","contentUrl":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/11840c9a170ac22dbf5bc0397622f4e4.jpg?ver=1776127237","caption":"CTK"},"url":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/author\/ctk\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1207"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1214,"href":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1207\/revisions\/1214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norwichobserver.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}