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  • Worcester Telegram & Gazette

    Healey announced $52 million in climate resiliency funds - is your town on the list?

    By Veer Mudambi, Worcester Telegram & Gazette,

    3 days ago

    Climate change is usually associated with warmer winters, hotter summers and drought conditions. But the opposite extreme can be just as bad.

    As the residents of Leominster and surrounding communities learned last fall, sometimes climate change is very, very wet.

    In light extreme flooding the town faced last year, Governor Maura Healey chose Leominster as the site of her Thursday, Aug. 1 announcement of $52.4 million in grants dedicated to improving climate resilience across Massachusetts.

    “We have seen the devastation caused by extreme weather and heard the calls for help. Today, we are continuing our promise to help communities in addressing last year's challenges and taking proactive steps to reduce future climate risks,” said Governor Healey in a press release. “These grants are more than just financial support – they are a strong statement of our commitment to resilience.”

    The funding is part of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program and is the largest grant since the program began in 2017.

    The MVP Program provides local communities with state resources to identify potential climate-related issues and create solutions to mitigate impacts, such as inland flooding, more frequent and severe storms, rising sea levels, drought, and extreme temperatures.

    What will the majority of the grant money go to?

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1oD2Dm_0umTduWZ00

    The greatest portion of the grant - $5 million - will also go to flood mitigation via the Island End River Flood Resilience Project in Everette and Chelsea.

    The project involves construction of a coastal storm surge barrier (flood barrier), storm surge control facility, riverfront nature-based solutions, and related amenities at the Island End River to protect the surrounding area from flooding.

    The remaining top four grants are Athol (greening the Lord Pond Plaza), Bridgewater (Hanson Farm Conservation Restriction purchase), Haverhill (Little River Dam Removal and River Restoration), and Barnstable (Sandy Neck Beach Facility Coastal Resiliency Project). Athol, Bridgewater and Haverhill are all $3,000,000 and Barnstable is close behind at $2,833,849.

    MBTA awarded money to cool down public transportation

    The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization & Metropolitan Area Planning Council also received over $1 million for countering heat in public transportation.

    The effect of extreme heat on transportation infrastructure has been well documented , especially in cities like Boston where residents rely on public transportation.

    What towns are getting MVP funding?

    A total of 71 projects have been awarded grants, including 62 for municipalities, seven for regional planning agencies, and two for tribes.

    The full list of grant recipients:

    Grantee Project Title Total Award
    Amherst (Public Works Department) Phase 2: Fort River Watershed Improvements for Flood & Water Quality Resilience $1,179,700
    Ashburnham Whitney Pond Dam Removal and River Restoration $377,652
    Ashfield Ashfield Rural Climate Resilience and Living Culture Project $166,001
    Athol Greening the Lord Pond Plaza $3,000,000
    Barnstable Sandy Neck Beach Facility Coastal Resiliency Project $2,833,849
    Billerica Flowing Toward Resilience: Climate Change and Hydraulic Capacity of Culverts $129,500
    Bolton Future Resilient Field at Derby $488,824
    Boston (& Revere) Resilient Bennington Street & Fredericks Park Project (Phase II) $456,500
    Boston Community-Based Flood Resilience and Green Infrastructure Planning $449,710
    Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization & Metropolitan Area Planning Council (& Chelsea, Everett, Framingham, Revere) NO-HEAT: Neutralizing Onerous Heat Effects on Active Transportation $1,001,100
    Bridgewater Hanson Farm Conservation Restriction Purchase $3,000,000
    Cambridge (& Mystic River Communities) Developing Successful, Cost-Effective, Urban Forest Strategies for Areas of High- and Low-Tree Mortality Across the Mystic Watershed $276,800
    Dartmouth Nature-Based Solutions Retrofit of Critical Infrastructure within Coastal Flood-Prone Areas Town of Dartmouth - Phase 2 $113,100
    Deerfield Bloody Brook Resilience Hydrologic/Hydraulic Modeling $170,300
    Dudley Stormwater Retrofit Program at the Dudley Municipal Complex $281,000
    Everett (& Chelsea) Island End River Flood Resilience Project $5,000,000
    Everett (& Chelsea, Malden, Arlington) Wicked Cool Mystic - Súper Fresco Místico $687,000
    Fitchburg Nature-base Solutions for a Resilient Coolidge Park $323,160
    Franklin Regional Council of Governments (& Regional Communities) Resilient Together: Building Partnerships in the Greater Connecticut River Watershed $646,025
    Georgetown Georgetown Park & Ride Library Street Resiliency Improvements $68,265
    Greenfield Building Community and Resilience through Plantings at Millers Meadow $37,830
    Hampden Town of Hampden Main Street Bridge Replacement and Green Solutions Project $275,450
    Harwich Red River Valley Preserve Watershed Resiliency Project $1,800,000
    Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band Nukkone Mayash (the Old Ways) $823,446
    Haverhill Little River Dam Removal and River Restoration $3,000,000
    Holyoke Green Infrastructure Construction in the Day Brook Watershed $1,229,730
    Kingston Purchasing the Correira Bogs in Kingston, MA $1,620,000
    Lanesborough (& Mount Washington, Blandford, Goshen, Middlefield, Shutesbury) Western Massachusetts Unpaved Road Project $432,096
    Lawrence Green Lawrence Blue Merrimack: Stormwater Resilience Master Plan $1,601,840
    Leominster Burrage & Mascoma Neighborhood Area Flood Mitigation Project $487,483
    Lowell Saint Louis Sponge Park Phase 2 $979,120
    Martha's Vineyard Commission (& Regional Communities) Martha's Vineyard Public Food Forest Plan $97,764
    Mashpee Increasing Resilience to Harmful Algal Blooms in Santuit Pond: Construction of Town Landing Resilience Improvements $1,669,956
    Medford Resilient Urban Forest Master Plan $220,900
    Medford Strengthening Medford Connects: An Interconnected Resiliency Network for Future Resilience Hubs $746,580
    Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) (& Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Revere, Winthrop) Lower Mystic Cool Communications to Build Regional Heat Resiliency $490,813
    Middleborough School Street Parking Lot Project $171,230
    Monson Chicopee Brook Flood Resilience Improvements $487,500
    Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (& Leominster) Looking Upstream, Learning Downstream: A Geo-Spatial Chronicle and Lessons Learned from the Leominster Flood Emergency of 9/11/2023 $458,400
    Natick (& Charles River Communities) Charles River Watershed Flood Mitigation Plan Implementation $330,492
    Natick Natick High School Constructed Wetland and Subwatershed Evaluation $266,400
    Newton Flood Storage and Bank Restoration Along Cheesecake Brook $1,240,995
    North Adams (& Clarksburg) North Adams Flood Resiliency $1,061,203
    North Andover Cochichewick Brook Riverine Floodplain Management Study and Plan $133,150
    Northampton Northampton Critical Infrastructure Flood Resiliency Project $337,615
    Norwood Norwood Nature Based Solutions to Reduce Flooding and Heat $144,300
    Old Colony Planning Council (& Brockton, Plymouth, Abington, Easton, Duxbury) Building a Climate Resilient Food System in Plymouth County $245,500
    Orange Fisher Hill School Solar/Bess and Outdoor Classroom $390,290
    Oxford Petroleum to Pollinator: Design to Restore a Former Gas Station Back to Nature $206,100
    Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (& Regional Communities) Toward Greater Resilience in our Drinking Water Supply: A Regional Plan for the Pioneer Valley (1st Phase) $420,223
    Pittsfield Unkamet Brook Restoration $275,000
    Plymouth Plymouth Downtown Resiliency Project: Green and Heat Island Reduction Infrastructure $360,265
    Provincetown Resilient Central Vacuum Station $1,000,000
    Reading (& Upper Mystic River Communities) Resilient Facilities Project: Finding Solutions for Flood-Prone Sites that Serve Priority Populations $522,500
    Salem Resilient Together: The Point $466,380
    Shutesbury Library Solar with Ford Lightning Battery Backup $222,105
    Somerville (& Everett, Medford, Cambridge, Winthrop, Chelsea, Revere) Centering Social Equity in Regional Systems: Lower Mystic Resilient Community Centers Network $ 310,100
    South Hadley Pearl Street/Elmer Brook Culvert Replacement $1,283,063
    Stoneham (& Upper Mystic River Communities) Stoneham High School Wetlands Restoration Project $2,346,126
    Stoughton Stoughton Town-Wide Culvert Assessment $312,982
    Sudbury Locally Grown Sudbury $92,500
    Townsend Climate Resilient Drainage Masterplan - Townsend, MA $154,500
    Tyngsborough Bridge Meadow Brook Culvert Replacement $326,500
    Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) 27 Aquinnah Circle Land Improvements $717,500
    Washington Depot Brook Flood Resilience Project $311,994
    Watertown Equity-Based Community Greening Program: Phase 2 $976,270
    Wenham (& Hamilton, Ipswich) Miles River Watershed Action Plan $60,048
    Westport East Beach Voluntary Buy-Out Pilot Program $60,000
    Whately The Future Looks Like Whately: Planting Resilience through Nature-Based Solutions $82,542
    Wilmington (& North Reading) Building the Climate Resilience of the Martins Brook Floodway $321,560
    Yarmouth Route 28 Corridor Resiliency $167,301
    Total (71) $52,424,128

    This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Healey announced $52 million in climate resiliency funds - is your town on the list?

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