Winthrop is expected to meet the application date of May 18 for the Massachusetts Vulnerability Program, which allows the town to obtain grants of up to $400,000. The town planner and the assistant town manager wrapped up input and feedback sessions last week.
The town held a Community Resiliency Building and Listening Session May 8, wrapping up the process needed to apply for the grants. Gov. Charlie Baker signed an order in 2016 instructing the state government to provide assistance to cities and towns to complete climate change vulnerability assessments and resiliency planning. This meeting came on the heels of the April 6 workshop with 60 community members.
The grant program helps communities identify extreme weather, and natural and climate related hazards.
“We have a lot of work to do to protect this town,†said Assistant Town Manager Joe Domelowicz. “We have an important task to protect Winthrop, which protects Deer Island and MassPort. The state has spent millions of dollars on those two agencies. If we show projects to make us resilient, but also show a benefit to them, like helping protect their runways, those are the types of projects we can get them to buy in on.â€
Barbara Bishop, aide to Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo, said she noticed that during the last major storm access to the Point was cut off. North Shore Road in Revere was closed, Route 1A was closed, as was the bridge linking Winthrop to East Boston was closed. Revere Street near Short Beach was also closed.
“If this is the kind of thing that will happen in the future we really need to address this,†she said. “One critical place was Shirley Street near the Winthrop Yacht Club. That was not drainage, that was sea level rise.â€
Town Planner Mary McGann said if the problem can’t be solved or mitigated then the town has to find out how to adapt.
Winthrop is now able to qualify to apply for MVP (municipal vulnerability preparedness) status. With this step the town will be able to get extra points when applying for grants. These grants are also only available to cities and towns with MVP status.
The MVP grant program provides support for cities and towns in Massachusetts to begin the process of planning for climate change resiliency and implementing priority projects. The state awards communities with funding to complete vulnerability assessments and develop action-oriented resiliency plans. Communities who complete the MVP program become certified as an MVP community and are eligible for MVP Action grant funding and other opportunities.
In 2017 the Baker-Polito administration announced over $1.4 million in grant funding to 71 cities and towns.
Woodward and Curran, the town’s engineer and planner, submitted a report with the town and the state office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.