New regional efforts are emerging through MARCH. The municipal working group has held four sessions to date, convening up to 40 municipal staff, area nonprofits, engaged citizens groups, and various academic institutions on a bi-monthly basis. In addition to sharing who is doing what, presentations have focused on the state’s new ResilientCoasts plan, the Municipal Vulnerability Program’s 2.0 planning process, the Green Communities Climate Leader Communities program, TownGreen initiatives, such as the Neighborhood Resiliency Project, and the City of Gloucester’s Office of Emergency Management.
The four Cape Ann municipalities are moving forward on a collaborative approach for the upcoming MVP 2.0 process. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council applied for regional grant funding on behalf of the four communities, and TownGreen is on tap to conduct the public engagement elements of the MVP 2.0 process. The project should get underway in early spring. The program will allow “communities to revisit resilience priorities defined during their original planning process with the involvement of the wider community, and includes new training and guidance on strategies for building climate resilience, equity, and climate justice. This grant will help municipalities and communities convene a Core Team to co-develop and implement a seed project that builds community resilience, with guaranteed funding for implementation.”
At least three communities want to move forward with the state’s popular Climate Leader Communities program, which is the next level of the state’s Green Communities efforts. Climate Leader Communities adopt the next iteration of building codes that promote higher energy-efficiency standards, develop a roadmap to eliminate fossil fuels over time in municipal operations where possible, and commit to maintaining a citizens’ committee dedicated to climate-related issues. MARCH is facilitating these steps.
MARCH participants continue to identify topics for future meetings, including
- A look at the property insurance market as a changing climate impacts not only rates, but also what carriers are willing to offer coverage in certain areas
- The state of the electric grid serving the area and what is needed to make it more resilient and capable of handling greater demand as we switch from fossil fuels to electricity in our homes, vehicles, and boats, and
- Ways to better coordinate major transportation improvement projects of flood-prone roadways with the state, especially given rising seas and increasingly severe storms.
