FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Julie Mercier
Town Planner
978.759.7636
jmercier@carlislema.gov
Town of Carlisle Awarded $93,740 in MVP Action Grant Funds from the Healey-Driscoll Administration to Build Climate Resilience
Carlisle, MA 9/11/23 — The Town of Carlisle is thrilled to announce it has received a $93,740 municipal climate resilience grant for technical assistance to incorporate climate resilience best practices into local land use policies, bylaws, and regulations. Awarded by the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program, which is administered by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), these competitive grants support communities in identifying climate hazards, developing strategies to improve resilience, and implementing priority actions to adapt to climate change. The ‘Climate Resilient Carlisle’ project is one of 79 projects to have received action grant funding in the latest round of applications.
Julie Mercier, Town Planner, is hopeful that the process will bring volunteers together around a shared approach to climate adaptation and help establish a framework for other towns to follow in the future.
Building on the Town of Carlisle’s climate resilience planning process completed in 2021, and on environmental sustainability recommendations in the 2022 Master Plan, these funds will allow Carlisle to review local regulations holistically through a climate resilience lens, and to make smart choices about land use practices going forward.
Community members interested in getting involved can join by emailing Julie Mercier, Town Planner at jmercier@carlislema.gov.
The MVP program, created in 2017, provides funding for community-driven climate resilience planning and action. Ninety-nine percent, or 349 out of 351 of the Commonwealth’s cities and towns, are participating in the program and over $131.5 million has been awarded for local climate resilience planning and projects. Communities originally enrolled in the program by completing the MVP Planning Grant process (MVP 1.0), which then opened up access to apply for an MVP Action Grant, or implementation funding. EEA has recently launched the MVP 2.0 update to the original MVP planning grant, and after this pilot round intends to require communities to undergo MVP 2.0 to maintain eligibility in applying for MVP Action Grants.