State Awards $11.1 Million in Climate Change Funding To Cities And Towns

09:17AM / Thursday, September 17, 2020Print Story | Email Story

FITCHBURG, Mass. — Continuing investment in climate change resiliency, the Baker-Polito Administration announced $11.1 million in grants to cities and towns through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program.

This announcement brings total state investment in climate change resilience through the MVP program to over $44 million since 2017. The popular grant and designation program provides communities with funding and technical support to identify climate hazards, develop strategies to improve resilience, and implement priority actions to adapt to climate change. The grants were announced by Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito in Fitchburg as part of the Baker-Polito Administration's celebration of Climate Week in the Commonwealth.

"Projects like those receiving awards today are not only critical for the resilience of our communities, but also create local jobs, contribute to the economy, and avoid future costs," Governor Charlie Baker said. "As we celebrate Climate Week, I am proud of the $44 million we've invested since 2017 through MVP, and we look forward to continuing the strong partnerships we've built with cities and towns to prepare for climate change impacts throughout the Commonwealth."

"The continued success of the MVP program shows how important building resiliency in Massachusetts communities is to our municipal partners and residents," Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito said. "We are thrilled to reach 89 percent participation in this voluntary program and are excited to continue to invest in efforts to build climate resilience in the Commonwealth."

With this announcement, 89% of Massachusetts cities and towns, or 312 municipalities, are now enrolled in the MVP program, which pairs local leadership and knowledge with a significant investment of resources and funding from the Commonwealth to address ongoing climate change impacts like sea-level rise, inland flooding, storms, and extreme temperatures. The program was created was created in 2017 as part of Governor Baker's Executive Order 569.

The $11.1 million announced will go towards MVP Planning Grants and Action Grants. Planning Grants support communities in working with a state-certified technical assistance provider to lead a community-wide planning workshop to identify key climate-related hazards, vulnerabilities and strengths, develop adaptation actions, and prioritize next steps. Results of the workshops and planning efforts inform existing local plans, grant applications, and policies.

Communities are then eligible for competitive MVP Action Grant funding to implement priority on-the-ground projects. Projects are focused on proactive strategies to address climate change impacts and may include retrofitting and adapting infrastructure, actions to invest in and protect environmental justice communities and improve public health, detailed vulnerability assessments or design and engineering studies, stormwater upgrades, dam retrofits and removals, culvert upgrades, drought mitigation, energy resilience, mosquito control initiatives, and that focus on implementing nature-based solutions such as wetland restoration and floodplain protection.

"In this fourth round of MVP Action Grants, we are seeing the continuation of many projects we helped fund in the planning stage that are now ready for on-the-ground implementation," Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides said. "We are pleased to see the hard work of our municipal partners pay off in this way and are also excited for the many new communities that are just starting to take action to build resilience to climate change through the MVP planning process."

The following communities will receive funding to complete the MVP planning process in 2020-2021:


Applicant	MVP Program Region	Grant Award
Ashburnham	Central	$22,000
Ashby	Central	$27,000
Berkley	Southeast	$15,000
Carlisle	Northeast	$27,000
Cheshire	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$32,000
Chester	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$26,500
Foxborough	Greater Boston	$17,000
Granville	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$27,000
Hampden	Greater Connecticut River Valley	$40,000
Hardwick	Greater Connecticut River Valley	$20,000
Heath	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$27,000
Holbrook	Greater Boston	$32,000
Hopedale	Central	$15,000
Leyden	Greater Connecticut River Valley	$27,000
Mount Washington	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$20,000
New Braintree	Greater Connecticut River Valley	$20,000
Otis	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$20,000
Petersham	Greater Connecticut River Valley	$20,000
Richmond	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$20,000
Stockbridge	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$38,000
Upton	Central	$20,000
West Brookfield	Greater Connecticut River Valley	$20,000
Westhampton	Berkshires & Hilltowns	$20,000
Whitman	Greater Boston	$29,000
Wilbraham	Greater Connecticut River Valley	$32,000
Wilmington	Northeast	$31,000
Total (26)		$644,500

The following communities were awarded Action Grants:

Applicant	Project Title	Grant Award
Agawam	Agawam Stormwater Master Plan	$216,750
Arlington & Resilient Mystic Collaborative	Wicked Hot Mystic	$186,200
Athol & North Quabbin Community Coalition	Lord Pond Plaza Improvement Project	$117,760
Auburn	Leesville Pond Water Quality Protection and Community-Wide Resiliency Improvements	$209,895
Belchertown	Enhancing Water Supply Reliability: Resilient Water Storage and Water Conservation – Design & Implementation	$698,356
Blandford	Resilient Community-Driven Master Plan + Resilient Regulatory Work	$102,824
Bolton, Harvard, & Devens	Apple Country Ecological Climate Resiliency and Carbon Planning Assessment	$250,000
Boston	City of Boston Heat Resilience Planning Study	$280,070
Braintree	Monatiquot River Restoration – Construction	$750,000
Cambridge & Metro Mayors	Building Resilience to Climate Driven Heat in Metro Boston	$268,820
Chelsea	Urban Heat Island Mitigation Project	$262,996
East Longmeadow	Comprehensive Master Plan	$84,833
Easthampton	Green Infrastructure Planning and Resiliency Design for Cherry Street	$175,957
Fall River, Dighton, Somerset, & Swansea	Regional Emergency Water System Interconnectivity Analysis	$100,650
Fitchburg	John Fitch Highway – A Resilient Road Corridor	$271,787
Granby	Resilient Regulatory Work and Refocusing on Climate Resilience Pathway in Master Plan	$34,272
Great Barrington	Climate Action, Resilience, and Equity Great Barrington (CARE GB)	$70,400
Haverhill	Little River Dam Removal Feasibility Study	$129,693
Holyoke	Holyoke Urban Forest Equity Plan	$135,032
Lakeville, Middleborough, Freetown, Rochester, Taunton, & New Bedford	Assawompset Ponds Complex Watershed Management and Climate Action Plan	$93,236
Lawrence	Flood Study and DPW Yard Adaptation Plan	$213,418
Leominster	Monoosnoc Brook Bank Stabilization Project	$200,661
Lexington & Resilient Mystic Collaborative	Upper Mystic River Watershed Regional Stormwater Wetlands	$670,000
Littleton	Watershed Protection for Climate Resiliency- Brown's Woods Acquisition	$763,050
Lowell	Claypit Brook Climate Resilience Stormwater Management Capital Improvement Plan	$138,000
Lynn	Strawberry Brook Green Infrastructure Implementation	$199,090
Malden	Malden River Works	$150,015
Medford	Conceptualization and Community Building for Equitable, Community-Driven Resilience Hubs in Medford	$202,485
Milford	Green Stormwater Infrastructure in Milford Town Park	$419,123
Millbury	Armory Village Green Infrastructure Project - Phase II	$125,600
Natick & Charles River Watershed	Building Resilience Across the Charles River Watershed	$264,171
Newburyport	Resilient Critical Infrastructure: Adapting a Wastewater Treatment Facility, Underground Electric Lines, and Public Rail Trail to Future Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge	$1,000,000
Plympton	Building a Municipal Resilience Portfolio: Assessment of Critical Land in the Winnetuxet River Corridor	$41,929
Provincetown	Permit Level Design of the Ryder Street Outfall Relocation and Drainage Improvements	$70,465
Revere	Coastal Resilience Feasibility Study for the Point of Pines and Riverside Area	$210,689
Salisbury	Resilient Rings Island: Preventing a Neighborhood from Being Stranded by Flooding	$250,000
South Hadley	Climate Resilient South Hadley	$105,000
Springfield	People-Focused Resilient Redesign and Retrofits for Community/Civic Infrastructure and Critical Facilities	$210,422
Stow & Hudson	Assessing the Health of Lake Boon – A Key to Climate Resiliency in Stow & Hudson, MA – and Beyond	$154,000
Williamstown & Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership	Mohawk Trail Woodland Partnership Forest Stewardship, Resilience, and Climate Adaptation	$164,575
Windsor	River Road Site 1 Culvert	$460,000
Total (41)		$10,452,224

MVP supports implementation of the State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan,released in September 2018, which provided a national model of integrating hazard mitigation priorities with forward-looking climate change data and solutions. The plan is implemented within state government by the Resilient MA Action Team, an inter-agency team led by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and staffed by designated Climate Change Coordinators from each Executive Office. The Resilient MA Action Team provides guidance and decision-making for Plan implementation, further refines priority actions, and ensures actions are integrated into agency practice and policy. The RMAT is also developing climate resilience standards and guidelines for state agencies and a project climate risk screening tool for the annual capital planning process and state-funded infrastructure grant programs to ensure that investments are climate-smart. These tools are anticipated to be launched on ResilientMA.org in early 2021.

"I am proud to be able to partner with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Secretary Theoharides to promote the MVP program in the Worcester Middlesex District," State Senator Dean Tran said. “The grants issued under this program by the Baker-Polito Administration will tremendously assist cities and towns in planning for climate change resiliency and implementing priority projects."

"The Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program is vital to helping cities and towns address climate change at the local level," State Rep. Natalie Higgins said. "I am excited that Leominster secured funding for the Monoosnoc Brook Bank Stabilization Project through the MVP Program this year."

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Hancock Shaker Village Radiant Nights

12:20PM / Monday, December 02, 2024

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Hancock Shaker Village is back with its multisensory holiday experience with the opening of Radiant Nights on Dec. 7. The

"We are thrilled to once again partner with artist Joe Wheaton to create Radiant Nights. The Village serves as a unique canvas for Joe's limitless creativity and he delivers the most stunning video projections and audio experiences that illuminate several historic buildings, including the iconic Round Stone Barn. The element of whimsical surprise is always part of the experience as our guests stroll through the Village and soak up the immersive and festive energy. This has become a unique winter holiday tradition and we look forward to welcoming the community to experience the spectacle that is Radiant Nights," said Carrie Holland, Director of Hancock Shaker Village.

After taking in the approximate 1-mile route of light installations, sound, exhibits, and images, guests are invited to visit the farm animals, relax by the fire pit, and enjoy a drink and specialty fare from a pop- up bar in the Village, as well as the café operated by Woodlife Farm Market.

The Shaker Mercantile will also be open for shopping, holiday gifts, and unique artisanal products for purchase.

Radiant Nights runs 5 to 8pm, Dec. 7-8, Dec. 13 -15, and Dec. 20 – 22, Dec. 27 - 31.

Admission is free for members and children twelve and under.

For schedule information and to purchase tickets, visit HancockShakerVillage.org.

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