Town Administrator Kevin Sweet recently provided Wrentham residents with an update on a grant the town received last year to build climate resilience in town, including ways residents can get involved in the process.

Last September the town learned it had received a $113,344 municipal climate resilience grant for the Climate Resilience and Low Impact Development Regulatory Integration and town-wide Green Infrastructure Plan.

Awarded by the Baker-Polito Administration’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program, which is administered by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), these competitive grants support cities and towns in identifying climate hazards, developing strategies to improve resilience, and implementing priority actions to adapt to climate change.

A “Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Action Grant” webpage has been created to give residents more information on the grant and provide a place for those interested to ask questions and make recommendations. To view the website and the interactive map, click on the link at the Town Administrator’s website: https://wrenthamtownadmin.org/. 

Once on the page, residents can view a map of areas in town that have been identified as potential locations for green infrastructure projects, such as ways to improve or prevent the pollution of stormwater runoff. 

Grant Funding Background

Wrentham is one of 66 communities and regional partnerships to have received action-grant funding in the latest round of applications.

Building on Wrentham’s climate resilience planning process completed in 2018, these funds will allow Wrentham to update the local land use bylaws and regulations with the goal of increasing climate resilience with the implementation of stormwater green infrastructure, a green infrastructure assessment and community engagement targeting private property owners around the three major lakes in town.

Community members interested in getting further involved in the process can contact Director of Planning & Community Development Rachel Benson at [email protected] or by calling 508-384-5441.