Town Officer Education Conference

The most recent Town Officers Education Conference was offered in 2021.  Workshop materials from that event, as well as from the 2015-2020 conferences, appear below for your convenience.

2021 Workshops

The 2021 UVM Extension Town Officer Education Conference featured three engaging and informative sessions (a total of nine live sessions), all at no charge.

The sessions included digitization of land records, the new grand list program and conversion updates, place-making, how the 2020 census may impact our future, the ever-popular Lister Forum, Deputy Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health Tracy Dolan, Vermont State Epidemiologist Dr. Patsy Kelso, popular Northern Vermont University historian and author Professor Paul Searls, and more.

View the 2021 TOEC Agenda (PDF)

Citywide Reappraisal During COVID19 (PDF) — John Vickery

The 2020 Census and You (PDF) — Michael Moser, Jason Broughton, Fred Schmidt

COVID-19: Vermont's Data-driven Response, and Where We're Headed (PDF) — Patsy Kelso

Grand List Cleanup (PDF) — Christie Wright and Teri Gildersleeve

Creative Placemaking (PDF) — Kelly Stoddard Poor

Using Technology to Your Advantage (PDF) — Chris Miele

Vermont IPTMS Project (PDF)

 

2019 Workshops

TOEC on Across the Fence:

2018 Workshops

2018 Theme: Technology, Efficiency, and Collaboration: Innovations to Improve Municipal Practice

KEYNOTE PANEL: with Jim Condos, Vermont Secretary of State, John Quinn, Secretary of VT Agency of Digital Services and Chief Information Officer; Michael Schirling, Secretary of Agency of Commerce and Community Development.

Do you sense funding streams drying up or getting diverted away from your municipal work?  When this happens we look for ways to work smarter by turning our focus to innovative approaches like using technology, increasing efficiency and building collaborations.  These three approaches form the theme for our 2018 Conference looking for innovative ways to improve municipal practices. Keynote panelists will share their state-level insight for Vermont and offer suggestions on how municipalities can incorporate these approaches to extend resources.

TOEC 2018 Agenda, April 2018(PDF)

2017 Workshops

2017 Theme: “Rural Economies in a Changing Demographic Landscape”

Keynote: “Building Unity, Direction and Priorities through Community Engagement,” Paul Costello

We are thrilled to welcome our 2017 Keynote speaker Paul Costello from the Vermont Council on Rural Development. Have you noticed how the same volunteers do most of the work in your town? Do you feel besieged by long lists of problems or ideas for initiatives that 'someone' should undertake to address?   Many towns face the same challenges of engaging their community in a way that establishes direction and leadership to advance common priorities. Paul will address effective ways to pull people together, to build a stronger community, to advance key projects, and to better connect to resources to help your town move forward.

About Paul Costello: Paul Costello has served as the Executive Director of the Vermont Council on Rural Development since 2000.  VCRD runs an annual Rural Summit, and conducts "Community Visits" that help rural communities build priorities, set action plans, and build connections to resources.  It also provides customized facilitation on rural development policy at the local, regional and state level.  Paul is a native Vermonter who attended UVM before earning a PhD in Intellectual History at McGill.

(above) Building Unity, Direction and Priorities through Community Engagement, Paul Costello Presentation Notes

Ingredients for Downtown & Village Revitalization, Lori Hirshfield, Town of Hartford Dept of Planning & Development

Ingredients for Downtown & Village Revitalization, Gary Holloway, VT Department of Housing and Community Development

Every Town Will Benefit from Statewide Parcel Mapping, Leslie Pelch, Vermont Center for Geographic Information

 

2016 Workshops

A few highlights and resources:

Plenary Session: Inventorying the Strengths and Assets in Your Community, by Shoshanah Inwood

Slow It, Spread It and Sink It Using Green Stormwater Infrastructure, by Milly Archer and Becky Tharp

2015 Workshops

TOEC on Across the Fence:


TOEC was planned by UVM Extension in cooperation with the Vermont Department of Taxes Property Valuation and Review Division, Vermont AARP, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, the Vermont Assessors and Listers Association, the Vermont Department of Libraries, and the University of Vermont Center for Rural Studies.