Friday Updates - January 15, 2021

COVID-19 NEWS FOR DURHAM

Active COVID-19 cases in Durham as tracked by the NH Division of Public Health have remained in the mid-50’s since New Year’s.  

State officials reported this week that they are updating their vaccine plan to make anyone age 65 or older eligible to receive a COVID-19 shot in the next phase of vaccinations. Previously, those age 75 and up would be included in Phase 1B of vaccinations in New Hampshire, but the change was made after the federal government updated its guidance in an effort to protect as many older people as possible. Approx. 95% of those who have died of COVID-19 in the state are in that age group. Adding in more people to Phase 1B, however, means about 300,000 NH residents will now be in that group. The state has been receiving about 17,000 doses of vaccine each week, and Governor Sununu has indicated the Federal government has been saying that number should increase. If it doesn’t, it will be difficult to schedule a vaccination quickly.

For those who are eligible and want to be vaccinated in the next phase, beginning Jan. 22, go to http://vaccines.nh.gov/ and register. You’ll then get an email with a link to click to go to another site to sign up for a date, time and location. The entire vaccination schedule is still expected to last into at least May, when the final phase is scheduled to begin. 

STILL GOING TO THE GROCERY STORE? WITH NEW COVID-19 VARIANTS SPREADING IN THE USA, IT MAY BE TIME TO RECONSIDER

According to an article from MSN, recent developments in the Covid-19 pandemic have exposed a grim reality: If citizens in the USA keep doing what they are doing now to prevent infections, we’re all in trouble. That’s because the virus appears to be getting even better at infecting people. Since at least December, new and more contagious variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 have been outcompeting earlier versions of the virus in countries as far and wide as Brazil, the UK, and South Africa.

The advantage the new variants carry seems to be that in any given situation where people are gathered (particularly indoors according to the article), they’ll infect more people — an estimated 30 to 70 percent more people in the case of the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in Britain, which has now been identified in 50 countries. It’s already believed to be circulating at low levels across the US. And for a preview of what might come, you can look at how cases surged in the UK and nearby countries where this variant gained a foothold. Read more, as well as guidance concerning masks (and mask material) HERE.

TOWN COUNCIL ADOPTS RESOLUTION OPPOSING GERRYMANDERING IN NH – Durham supports a fair and transparent redistricting process in the next biennium.

In December, Durham resident Susan Richman approached the Town asking for an opportunity to present to the Town Council requests for the Council to endorse a fair and transparent redistricting process for state and Federal elective positions – versus the current politicized process that is subject to gerrymandering. This past Monday evening, Durham became the first community to pass a NH Nonpartisan Fair Redistricting Resolution. There are currently 85 municipalities that have joined the effort.  State Representative Margie Smith has led an effort on this front in recent legislative sessions only to have the bill vetoed by the Governor.  

View the approved resolution HERE.

DURHAM JOINS GLOBAL COVENANT OF MAYORS FOR CLIMATE AND ENERGY ACTION

After many years of review and with the affirmative recommendation of the Durham Energy Committee, Admin. Selig submitted a commitment letter this week to participate in the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM) initiative (https://www.globalcovenantofmayors.org/), joining thousands of other local governments around the world currently engaged in climate leadership.  

A special thank you is extended to the members of the Durham Energy Committee, as well as to Jennifer Andrews and Megan Carney of the UNH Sustainability Institute, and finally to UNH Sustainability Fellows (past and present) Justin Klinger, Mary Potts, and Emily Mello, for their cumulative efforts over several years in helping to bring this important effort to fruition.

As host to the University of New Hampshire, we look forward to participating as part of the GCoM process in the years ahead as part of our continuing holistic effort to pursue a sustainable and resilient Durham, NH.

To review the commitment letter, click HERE.

PISCATAQUA REGION ESTUARIES PARTNERSHIP (PREP) AND DURHAM TEAM UP ON CRITICAL ADVANCES FOR OUR ESTUARIES (CArE) INITIATIVE

PREP has partnered with Durham (utilizing $175,000 per year for three years from Seacoast Reliability Project monies between the Town and Eversource) to design CArE: a three-year initiative to focus new resources on areas of critical need identified by PREP, its partners, and the 52 communities of the Piscataqua Region watershed. A four-part plan outlines high-level guidance that PREP and our Management, Executive, and Technical Advisory committees can use to develop detailed project plans and budgets to support the initiative. Although work is targeted at improving the Great Bay Estuary, as a National Estuary Program, it is PREP’s mandate to undertake work that benefits the Great Bay Estuary, the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary, and all 52 communities. Therefore, whenever possible, CArE will produce work that can be used to advance the health, resilience, and vitality of the Piscataqua Region’s estuarine resources.



CArE is focused on four critical areas of need that will greatly strengthen the ability of PREP, its partners, and our communities to protect the health of our estuaries:  

Part A – Develop a holistic approach and plan for research and monitoring activities: PREP and our partners study many aspects of the Great Bay Estuary ecosystem. However, to better understand the condition of the estuary’s priority habitats and the dynamics that influence their success or decline requires a more holistic approach. Using goals for fish, oysters, eelgrass, and salt marsh from the region’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), we will collaborate to design an Integrated Research and Monitoring Plan (RAMP) to track the protection, restoration, and recovery of these vital resources. The RAMP will articulate expected milestones along the path of recovery and address specific concerns for Piscataqua Region communities. Ultimately, it will provide long-term value in the form of baseline information on the conditions of key habitats and an agreed-upon prioritization of monitoring and research that helps us track recovery and guide future restoration investments.  

Progress and Accomplishments to Date:

• Comprehensive Monitoring and Research Plan Development – The first full draft of the Integrated Research and Monitoring Plan (RAMP) is complete, and approval to move forward to the Methods development was provided in June 2020 by the PREP Management Committee with support from the Technical Advisory Committee: View the plan HERE. Between September 2020-March 2021 the Methods for each habitat/resource will be developed. The Human Health section, which requires additional work in terms of the conceptual models and questions will continue to be developed.
• Habitat Program Development & Annual Spotlight Report – Increased PREP staff capacity to initiate and build our Habitat Program (with new Habitat Program Manager, Trevor Mattera) resulted in a number of focused meetings in March-April with stakeholders involved with the restoration and management activities around eelgrass, fish, salt marshes, & shellfish, to inform RAMP and development of PREP’s first Annual Habitat Report, completed in October: 2020-PREP-Habitat-Report1.pdf (prepestuaries.org). In addition, PREP has stepped in to take the lead on Seagrass monitoring and reporting efforts, and is coordinating the analysis of backlogged data as well as annual field season monitoring.

Part B - Advance technical capacity to manage and share data:  Many organizations collect a diverse array of data to support the science-based management of natural resources in the Piscataqua Region. However, there is a widely acknowledged need to manage the quality of this data, synthesize it in ways that support key management and research questions, and to improve access for communities, managers, and scientists. This strategy supports added staff capacity on the PREP team to assist the coastal scientist in working with partners to prioritize and execute data management tasks to support a range of critically important projects and to build on our shared monitoring efforts. The data coordination and management work is the second half of the Habitat Program Manager’s role.

Progress and Accomplishments to Date:

• Data Management – With support from Dr. Miguel Leon (UNH), PREP has completed the first phase of developing an interactive database, that will allow for increased access to data and quicker analysis of individual and related data sets related to our estuaries. As of December 2020, State of Our Estuaries historic and available data sets associated with estuarine assessment units in the Dept. Environmental Services Environmental Monitoring Database have been pulled into the database, along with additional data sets for beach and tributary assessment units. Beta-testing with advanced users has begun and will continue into 2021. The project will be completed by December 2021.
• Data Work – There are a number of highest-priority datasets that need quality assurance checks as well as analysis in order to be useful to managers, decision-makers and researchers. The following data work is currently underway with support from funds through CArE. All data will be included in the database and publicly accessible. Results will be used in the development of the 2023 State of Our Estuaries Report in addition to other interim and focused topical reports.

Part C - Improving accounting metrics for nonstructural BMPs:  Nonpoint source pollution is a pervasive problem that can be addressed in part by the effective use of nonstructural BMPs at the community scale. Until recently, however, communities could not receive regulatory credit for such BMPs under their stormwater permits. An expert scientific panel convened by regional partners developed recommendations for assigning regulatory credit to constructed and restored buffers, which have been accepted by USEPA Region 1. This strategy will build on that project to convene a panel with regional and national expertise to develop science-based recommendations to assign regulatory credits for nonstructural BMPs. The panel will be supported by the UNH Stormwater Center, the Pollution Tracking and Accounting Project, and municipal staff. 

Progress and Accomplishments to Date:

Expert Elicitation Panel – scheduled to be initiated and convened in 2021. RFP process initiated at UNH and will be issues on January 25, 2021. Internal selection panel has been developed.

Part D - Empower coordinated communication as a long-term engine for stewardship: Individual stewardship is critical to the health of our region’s unique natural resources and can only be achieved by leveraging the shared values of the people who live here. In 2019, PREP and partners launched a clean water initiative, Every Drop, to address this need. Every Drop connects people and the aspects they inherently love about living in our region to small, personal actions they can take to help be part of the solution. We have the foundational tools to measure the preliminary impact of this community and values-based social marketing effort and to support its scale-up. 

Progress and Accomplishments to Date:

• Next Phase of Every Drop in 2021 – working with the NH Charitable Foundation, Great Bay 2020 Steering Committee, and Every Drop Advisory Committee to lay out a strategic plan for future implementation.

OYSTER RIVER SCHOOL DISTRICT MOVES IN DIRECTION OF INCREASED IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION - A very difficult needle to thread, yet the School Board, Administrative Team, and district staff are all doing yeoman work.

The schools of the ORCSD will resume in-person learning on Tuesday, January 19. Mast Way, Moharimet, and PEP will return to the hybrid AM/PM in-person model with additional targeted learning supports. The Middle School will return to the remote instruction with targeted-learners model that includes 5th grade attending school in-person on Wednesdays. The High School will return to its hybrid model with in-person afternoon office hours and targeted learners.

Utilizing the new ORCSD COVID-19 Metric, there were several factors that influenced the decision to return to in-person learning at this time.

1. As noted previously, the 2-week window from the holiday break has passed allowing 14 days to reduce the impacts of community transmission in our schools due to social gatherings.
2. While there has been increases in positive cases in Strafford County, the COVID-19 community case counts have been stable since the holidays and we are confident in our current capacity to contract trace.
3. While testing availability seems to have been inconsistent, it has been expanded for school employees and students.
4. The models that students are returning to have been safely implemented prior to the holiday break and rely heavily on cohort groups which make it easier to isolate students or staff should it become necessary due to COVID-19 exposure.
5. Current staffing levels are sufficient to operate at all levels. Staff were extremely careful over the holiday break leading to very low staff exposure and quarantine numbers. Additionally, we have recently added multiple staff positions at all levels to facilitate coverage for absent staff due to COVID.

Moving forward the ORCSD Governance Team will review data from our COVID-19 metric every Monday and report to the Board and community on plans moving forward. Please know that although the district will actively review data every Monday and try to be as transparent as possible with its thinking moving forward, there always exists the possibility of an unexpected change that may require a sudden shift in plans.

COVID-19 documents can be found HERE.