The Town of Wayne Select Board on June 10 approved acceptance of a $75,000 Community Action Grant from the state Department of Innovation and Policy to fund a hydrological vulnerability assessment of local water bodies.

The grant is nonmatching and was submitted on the town’s behalf to study Wayne’s existing water bodies, Town Manager Shannon said. Shannon told the board the award is for $75,000 for a single community and that higher award levels are available if communities join together; she said the board will set a start date and the state will send a contract for the town to sign.

Why it matters: the assessment will produce a consultant report that the town can use for planning and potential climate adaptation work. The grant will underwrite consultant costs rather than require local matching funds.

Board members and a public commenter who helped write the application discussed next steps. Shannon said the grant director will send a contract after the board confirms a start date; Shannon said she expects a July 14 start date but will confirm when the contract arrives. Paul, a grant writer for the Community Sustainability Partnership who attended the meeting, offered to answer questions from the town and reminded the board that members of the grant team helped develop the application.

The town will not hire a consultant immediately; Shannon said an RFP will need to be drafted and issued and the work will be conducted by a consulting firm selected through that bidding process. That means the project is not “turnkey” and will require a procurement process before work begins.

The board approved the motion to accept the grant and instructed staff to forward the contract when received and return any final contract documents to the board for signature. The project team mentioned in the discussion includes Paula Narcissian and other community members who helped write the application, and Ben Tithombe and Grow Smart Maine were cited as contributors to the grant effort.

The town will publish the contract and procurement timeline to the select board once received and will circulate a list of potential bidders and the RFP to interested parties.