NORWOOD – General Manager Tony Mazzucco, Acting Director of Community Planning and Economic Development Sarah Dixon Bouchard and Conservation Planner Holly Jones are pleased to announce that the Town of Norwood has received a grant award for an ongoing climate resiliency project.
The grant, in the amount of $50,000, was awarded through the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s (MAPC) Accelerating Climate Resiliency Grant Program for advancing green stormwater retrofits at Norwood’s Cleveland School and Savage Center.
The Cleveland School and the Savage Center are both in watersheds with impaired water bodies, Hawes Brook and Germany Brook. The intent of the project is to clean stormwater, reduce flood risk to the buildings, and provide community education and exemplars of green stormwater infrastructure.
In addition to housing the Senior Center and Norwood Public Schools administration, the Savage Center, which has a commercial kitchen and showers, serves as one of Norwood’s emergency shelters. Reducing the flood risk to the parking lot and building is a priority in case of its necessary use as a shelter during emergency floods. Flooding, along with drought, is one of the main climate change hazards facing Norwood.
The MAPC grant funding will allow Norwood to advance the designs for green stormwater retrofits, which are underway at both Hawes Brook and Germany Brook, from 25% to 75%. Seventy-five percent is the standard needed to apply for many construction grants.
The town will also partner with the Neponset River Watershed Association to conduct community outreach throughout the design process and get feedback on which designs will best meet the needs of residents.
“We are grateful to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council for this funding, which will help us to further an important climate resiliency project,” Jones said. “This project plays an important role in the town’s planning and preparedness work, and is an example of our continued work to ensure the town is ready and able to cope with hazardous climate change-related impacts, like flooding.”
About the MAPC Accelerating Climate Resiliency Grant Program
MAPC, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, is the regional planning agency that serves the people who live and work in the 101 cities and towns of Metro Boston. Their Accelerating Climate Resiliency Program seeks to accelerate climate resilience in the Metro Boston region by helping municipalities advance strategies that protect people, places, and communities from the impacts of climate change. MAPC seeks to elevate projects that will advance climate equity, regional coordination, and social cohesion. MAPC’s Accelerating Climate Resilience (ACR) Grant program is supported by the Barr Foundation.
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