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City seeks state resilience planning funds to pair with EPA $20M climate award
Summary
Springfield staff told the committee they applied for a municipal vulnerability preparedness planning grant required to position the city for future implementation funding; the planning work will be paired with a separate $20 million EPA grant to update the Climate Action and Resilience Plan.
Springfield staff told the Finance Committee the city applied for a municipal vulnerability preparedness planning grant from the state to fulfill a new planning requirement and to qualify for future implementation funding.
Tina Quaglieto O'Sullivan, deputy development officer for housing, community development, neighborhood services and sustainability, said the Executive Office requires municipalities to complete a revamped planning process before they can seek larger implementation grants. "This is a municipal vulnerability preparedness planning grant," O'Sullivan said.
The nut graf: the planning grant — listed in committee materials as for $3,000 — will be paired with a separate $20,000,000 grant the city received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for an updated Climate Action and Resilience Plan; together the funds will finance a revised planning process that the state now requires as a precondition for implementation funding.
O'Sullivan said the updated planning work will be funded by both grants and that, if the city does not complete the new planning process, it may be precluded from applying for state implementation funding in the future. "They are expecting all municipalities that will seek implementation funding to go through that revamped planning process," she said.
O'Sullivan told committee members she expects the administration's office to lead the update under the EPA award, and that many implementation tasks will be carried out by development services and other departments. John Garrigan, director of buildings and facilities, said his office and others will collaborate on technical components such as buildings and facilities management.
No formal vote was reported during the discussion. Committee members asked for contact points for questions; O'Sullivan recommended staff in her office as primary contact for details on the planning process.
