Small Town Officials Urge H.3311 to Make State Grants More Competitive for Rural Communities

Michelle Jeruso, town coordinator and grant administrator for Leyden, and Paul McClatchy, town administrator for Ashfield, told the committee that small rural towns lack staff capacity to prepare competitive grant applications and should be given tools to compete for state funding. Jeruso said she has spent more than 50 hours on a climate change grant application that was not funded and that the grant in question is needed to replace a bridge threatened by beaver activity. "If this road fails, half of Leyden would be cut off from public safety," she said, and argued that grants should allow regional applications because watersheds and infrastructure cross municipal lines. McClatchy described wearing multiple municipal hats in a small town and said limited staff time forces towns to apply only when they believe they have a reasonable chance of success. He described existing regional efforts in Western Massachusetts — a six‑town Highland Ambulance consortium and a regional conservation agent shared by five towns funded through an efficiency and regionalization grant — and said those programs help towns stretch limited funds. Both witnesses urged a favorable report on H.3311 to help small communities pursue shared services, regional projects and to improve competitiveness for state grants. Committee members expressed support and asked witnesses to provide more examples; no committee vote was taken at the hearing.