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NOAA grant backs four‑year Aquinnic Island resilience effort, Discover Newport staff introduced
Summary
City heard a 10‑minute presentation about a nearly $2 million NOAA Resilience Regional Challenge award to build island‑wide capacity for coastal resilience; the grant funds planning, grant writing, community engagement and projects such as water‑quality and ecological restoration. Discover Newport staff introductions and Q&A followed.
Paige Myatt, the city’s climate resilience director, briefed the council on a four‑year Resilience Regional Challenge award from NOAA — a grant of roughly $2,000,000 to build cross‑jurisdictional capacity on Aquinnic Island for grant writing, project management and community engagement. “We were one of 19 projects selected out of over 870 applications,” Myatt said, noting the grant runs through fall 2028 and that the Aquinnic Island Land Trust will host the program.
Myatt outlined four main activities: build technical capacity across municipalities, develop an island‑wide climate resilience action plan that will be publicly accessible, expand community engagement beyond traditional venues, and develop a sustainable framework for long‑term implementation beyond the grant’s four years. She introduced new staff (Jamie Haynes Matthews and Glenny LeBaron) and answered council questions about federal‑grant stability and national‑security implications because of the nearby Naval Station Newport.
