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The Department works with officials and the community to identify, plan, and carry out activities that advance the quality of life and economic climate of Greenfield. Here’s how we do this:
- We research and evaluate the physical and community environment to identify needs for services or improvements. We do this at community and precinct meetings, through mail and phone surveys, by direct contact with citizens, and through other forms of research. We use information that we develop locally, as well as information produced by outside agencies and consultants. We present the results/conclusions at community meetings and through reports and plans that are available to the public.
- We identify, write, and manage grants to support improvements in public facilities and promote private investment. During the past 30 years, the department has obtained over $36 million in state and federal grants that we used to repair streets, improve neighborhood playgrounds, rehabilitate homes, build an industrial park, clean contaminated factory sites, and finance business start-ups. Grants also have been used as incentives to encourage private investors.
- We assist people applying for land use permits and the municipal boards and commissions that review those permits. We meet with applicants and landowners to explain permit requirements and regulations and review their proposals. We recommend and draft changes in regulations to ease the permit process and facilitate investment. We help board members understand and apply state and federal regulations in a fair and impartial manner, and maintain records of their proceedings.
- We manage the town’s Geographic Information System, a computerized database of maps that tracks everything from roads to hiking trails, from wetlands to water lines, from traffic levels to land elevations. We use this information to help us pinpoint public investment where it’s most needed. And we make this information available to the public, to other departments, and to government agencies to help them with their work.
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