At the recommendation of the Waitsfield Planning Commission, the Waitsfield Select Board named Becca Newhall to the town planning commission.
The board took that action at its June 24 meeting last week.
Newhall, in a June 5 email to Waitsfield planning and zoning administrator JB Weir wrote that since moving to Waitsfield year-round in 2020 she had wanted to find a way to give back to the community that welcomed her in the midst of the pandemic.
“So far, I have done that through my role as secretary for the Waitsfield PTA, co-director of the Ski and Skate sale and now I hope to utilize my professional background in environmental management as a member of the planning commission,” she wrote.
Newhall brings experience as a coastal management specialist with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration where she held multiple titles and led numerous projects. She also worked as special assistant to the deputy regional NOAA administrator and worked as ecosystem-based management research and development coordinator for the New York department of state.
She holds a bachelor of the arts degree in geology from Colgate University and a masters of environmental management from the Nicholas School of Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University, with a concentration on coastal science and policy.
In addition to her local work for the Waitsfield PTA and Ski and Skate sale, she was a corporation member of Camp Fleur de Lis in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, from 2012 to 2022 and became a certified life coach in 2013.
In her letter to the town, Newhall noted some of the issues facing Waitsfield and The Valley, including balancing natural resources and tourism, as well as the housing issue and its related impact on businesses working to attract and keep staff.
“I hope that I am able to help this community protect the natural resources we value, while enhancing our local economy and affordability through smart planning,” she said.
