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Town planner reports draft hazard mitigation plan, GZA site visit for Corn Neck Road; some grant awards temporarily paused
Summary
Town planner Allison Lisonbee said the draft hazard mitigation plan is nearly complete and that GZA’s on‑island site visit for the Corn Neck Road resiliency project was rescheduled to next week; committee members also discussed a temporary pause on a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant award.
Allison Lisonbee, New Shoreham’s town planner, told the Coastal Resilience Committee that the consultant working on the town’s hazard mitigation plan is nearing a draft and that a public hearing process is scheduled to begin in March.
Lisonbee also said GZA, the engineering firm hired for the Corn Neck Road resiliency project, had planned an on‑island site visit this week but rescheduled to next week because of weather. She said several committee members, including Judy, Nigel and Mary, expect to attend the kickoff meeting and site visit.
Why it matters: The hazard mitigation plan and Corn Neck Road project underpin resilience investments and permitting work on Block Island. Both the plan and the contractor schedule influence outreach, permitting timelines and grant administration.
On funding, committee members discussed two awards the town has been tracking: $465,000 from the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank under the Municipal Resiliency Program and $185,000 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). Judy reported that Lisonbee had received written notice from NFWF that "the grant award has been temporarily paused," and committee members said that the pause was part of broader uncertainty affecting some federal grant programs. Lisonbee confirmed the town had been awarded NFWF funds and that the grants are "obligated through congressional appropriations" but not yet disbursed.
Committee members and consultants said the Corn Neck Road contract includes three community engagement meetings tied to the engineering schedule: an initial public meeting in May–June, a mid‑project meeting and a final wrap‑up meeting. The consultant indicated a 60% and 90% design/permitting timeline laid out for late summer and early fall, subject to permitting schedules.
Committee members asked about interlocking technical work: hydrodynamic modeling, a proposed sand‑budget study for the island and groundwater/slumping analysis. Members said Brian and other researchers are preparing proposals and models; Nate and Brian were mentioned as working toward a ‘‘sand budget’’ concept to track sand in and out of defined coastal boxes.
No formal decisions or contract awards were made at the meeting; staff and consultants will continue coordinating site visits, public‑meeting planning and grant administration. Committee members asked staff to monitor the paused grants and to confirm whether the Infrastructure Bank award is affected.
