The Regional Health Initiative is an effort to build broad-based community support for the creation of a regional health department to serve all of Lehigh and Northampton Counties. A regional health department will increase coordination of public-health efforts, increase access to services and improve the region's emergency preparedness.
Water Regionalization Initiative: RenewLV formed a Water Regionalization Sub-Committee to oversee and guide a comprehensive research study co-sponsored by RenewLV and the Water Research Foundation (formerly AwwaRF). The study "Estimating Benefits of Regional Solutions for Water and Wastewater Service" evaluated the benefits of regionalizing water/wastewater systems in the Lehigh Valley and found that with consolidation residents could save $56 million each year by 2020 .
Read the Executive Summary of the study here [pdf].
RenewLV supports the study of regional rail for the Lehigh Valley, which will examine extending NJ Transit's planned expansion (from High Bridge to Phillipsburg, N.J.) westward through Northampton and Lehigh Counties. This study represents an important step toward creation of an expansive rail network serving the Lehigh Valley, eastern Pennsylvania and surrounding regions.
Campaign for Equitable Public School Funding in PA: Pennsylvania's method of funding its public schools is outdated, broken and ineffective. And it finally may be abandoned for a better alternative thanks to Govenor Rendell's 2008 budget proposal, which calls for the implementation of a new funding formula based on the results from last year's 'Costing-Out' study conducted by the General Assembly. The legislation would establish a permanent funding formula to provide adequate and equitable funds to schools and would allow school districts the ability to plan with greater certainty about future funding.
Live LV Subcommittee: Formed to address the troubling population loss of young professionals in the Lehigh Valley. Coordinated a series of 5 Public Forums to educate and inspire local young professionals. This committee has also been working on developing a community website to serve the needs of young professionals in the Lehigh Valley Area.
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