Livingston County Planner Heather Ferrero said local boards around the county are passing resolutions to follow the state’s regulation on the mandatory training. Some municipalities already had minimum training regulations for board members in place, she said. Each board member must complete the minimum four hours of training to retain their appointment to the planning or zoning board. Members who complete more than the minimum four hours of training within the year can apply those hours to the following year.

   The Town of Caledonia adopted a resolution to require the training earlier this year. Supervisor Daniel Pangrazio said the town board fully supports the idea of providing training for the volunteers who sit on both the planning and zoning board of appeals. He said the town board agreed to provide a minimal stipend to board members for the time they invest in the training. They serve as volunteer members of the town planning and zoning board of appeals.

   "I think this new law is a good idea. Some of our planning board members have already attended some training and found it to be a good learning experience," Pangrazio said.

   Chair of the Town of Caledonia Planning Board, Robert Sturm, has attended several training workshops on a variety of topics and says it has helped him to understand planning issues, the environmental impact process and recent changes in the law.

   "I think this is a good requirement. It’s no different than any other career or job you do. You have to continually train to keep abreast of the recent advancements," Sturm said.

   Town planning and zoning board of appeals members are facing increasingly complex projects, such as the Barilla plant in the Town of Avon and the proposed Cilion ethanol plant in the Town of Caledonia.

   "These big projects don’t happen every day but they do happen and board members need to be prepared for that. This training should really make a difference," added Pangrazio.

   The Village of Caledonia is in the process of adopting a similar resolution and will adhere to the training requirements for all of its planning and zoning board of appeals members.

   A wide variety of pertinent topics are offered to fulfill the training requirement such as the role and duties of a planning and zoning board member, good record keeping and minute taking, site plan review, special use permits, working with architects and engineers and understanding preservation. Training on specific issues that municipalities may face includes wind energy, ethanol production, planning for senior living communities, environmental safety and rural revitalization.

   The training is readily made available to board members through state and county sponsored municipal conferences, the Livingston County Planning Department and the Genesee-Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council, as well as various other training workshops held throughout the year. The Genesee-Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council is sponsoring an eight hour training workshop on May 11, 2007 at the Burgandy Basin Inn in Pittsford, NY.