American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funding Opportunities |
In response to the economic impacts and ongoing recovery from the pandemic, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into law this past spring. Through the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), ARPA is providing $3B in flexible funding to help communities by accelerating the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and building local economies that will be resilient to future economic shocks.
With an emphasis on equity, ARPA seeks to benefit underserved communities most vulnerable to the pandemic with funding through six innovative programs:
1. Build Back Better Regional Challenge: Given the role of regional economies in supporting local economic development and recovery, this challenge provides regions with the necessary funds to catalyze growth in new industries and support existing ones through planning, infrastructure, entrepreneurship among other strategies.
2. Good Jobs Challenge: In an effort to connect individuals with high-earning resilient employment, this challenge targets employers who have hiring needs and entities to train workers with in-demand skills that lead quality jobs with good pay, benefits, and growth opportunities.
3. Economic Adjustment Assistance: This challenge tackles job creation and development through competitive grants targeted to infrastructure, technical assistance, planning, and revolving loan programs. Collaboratively focused and regionally oriented, these projects should aim to build stronger regional economic links between urban centers and rural areas.
4. Indigenous Communities: Targeted to support Indigenous communities, this program supports these communities as they develop and execute projects necessary to recover from the pandemic including technical, planning, workforce development, entrepreneurship, public works and infrastructure projects.
5. Travel, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation: For those communities that rely on travel, tourism and outdoor recreation, this fund divides projects by State Tourism Grants and Competitive Grants targeted to individual communities and regions.
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SRPEDD Studies Route 103 in Somerset for Access Management
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SRPEDD is assisting the town of Somerset in evaluating the current roadway access to Wilbur Avenue (Route 103) between the Swansea town line and Francis Street, which is east of Brayton Point Road. (See the map of the study area.) The study area includes the I-195 highway interchange and the intersections of Wilbur Avenue with Lee’s River Avenue and Brayton Point Road. SRPEDD staff is continuing its data collection efforts in the study area with a review and analysis of 24-hour traffic counts, turning movement counts at key intersections, inventory of traffic control signs, geometrics of the roadway from both drone flights and field verification, pavement conditions, pavement markings, and a complete streets evaluation of the corridor. Additional data includes crash records provided by the Somerset Police Department.
The data has been mapped to display access points and related crashes along the corridor, and is being used for analysis and consideration with alternatives for improvements to minimize crash locations and improve traffic flow along the corridor. Some of these alternatives might include the consolidation of driveways, restructuring parking areas for enhanced parking capacity and traffic flow, and better defining the driveway entrance/egress to minimize drive confusion. Staff conducted a virtual public meeting in April to present the issues and the timeline for completion of the study. The study is currently slated for completion in September 2021. Please contact Luis deOliveira at ldeoliveira@srpedd.org for more information, questions or comments.
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SRPEDD's Regional Resilience Plan |
SRPEDD is getting ready to kick-off a multi-year project, made possible thanks to multiple funding sources, to develop a Regional Resilience Plan. Personal well-being and safety in Southeastern Massachusetts are tied to the overall health of our natural environment, infrastructure systems, local economies, social capital networks, and governance structures. The resilience of these interdependent systems determines our region’s ability to face extreme challenges brought on by climate change, economic downturn, and other potential shocks, such as the ongoing pandemic. SRPEDD proposes a comprehensive evaluation of current resilience levels across our 27-city and town service area, and the development of a SRPEDD Regional Resilience Plan (SRRP). The SRRP will be a head-on approach to considering the circumstances that could cause severe disruption to core systems and functions; it will advance methods to prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from such events, be they singular disasters or long-term climatological and economic shifts. The SRRP will achieve three main goals:
1. The SRRP will collect baseline data that show the region’s existing level of resilience to environmental, physical infrastructure, social, and economic shocks and present a hub for resilience data for our region that will support local users.
2. The SRRP will develop best practices for increasing resilience in different locational typologies (representative place-types) across the region.
3. The SRRP will be a vehicle for internal self-evaluation on our work program, translating our convening efforts into the realm of environmental, economic, and social resilience. The set of recommendations and priority projects that the plan develops will center on the actions that SRPEDD should take as next steps in furthering regional resilience.
As we developed the project, our SRRP scoping team identified key characteristics that will be present throughout all components of the plan.
- Develop tailored, but widely applicable best practice recommendations with area typologies as the basic planning unit, identifying commonalities among different jurisdictions that are facing common issues;.
- Proceed from the standpoint that people are our most important regional asset for maintaining regional resilience into the future.
- Put forth datasets in a public-facing interface with internal best practices for translating complex science into information that empowers people to use in their own actionable ways.
- View issues through an equity lens in anticipating impacts and promoting equitable solutions.
- Consider barriers to regionalism and regional resilience solutions.
- Highlight regional success stories and foster peer-to-peer learning.
In the next few weeks, SRPEDD will be forming internal working teams to gather baseline data and develop area typologies that will be the building blocks of the plan. We will also be gearing up to form the project Steering Committee; reaching out to cities and towns to identify local staff and/or elected officials to represent local perspectives on the project steering committee. Stay tuned for these upcoming requests.
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GATRA GO Microtransit Fills Service Gaps |
One of the biggest challenges facing transit agencies today is how to serve populations who live in areas that are low-income, less populated, and/or lack reliable transportation options. It is difficult to provide transportation to those individuals in need without a transit agency investing in expensive fixed-route bus routes that are often under-utilized. The Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) has a solution: Microtransit.
Microtransit is a ride-share service, much like Uber or Lyft. GATRA’s microtransit service, called GATRA GO, is an on-demand service that allows transit riders to request a vehicle to pick them up for same-day service within a set service area. A ride can be requested by downloading and using the TransLoc app (see the image on the right) or calling GATRA to request a ride at 774-226-1270. GATRA’s main goal in using microtransit is to expand their network’s geographic and demographic reach in a sensible and cost-effective way. To accomplish this, GATRA uses smaller, on- demand, vehicles to serve its GATRA GO riders. Currently in operation are four GATRA GO services. GATRA On Demand Coastline serves south Plymouth; GATRA On Demand Patriot Connect serves Mansfield, Foxborough, and Plainville; GATRA On Demand United serves Foxborough, Franklin, Norfolk, and Wrentham; and GATRA On Demand Explore, GATRA’s most recent microtransit service started this past March, serves Pembroke.
For more information, please contact GATRA GO customer service at 774-226-1270 or access their website at www.gatra.org. (GATRA is currently following all COVID-19 CDC guidelines. Masks are required by all riders and drivers.)
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SRPEDD to Study Route 6 in Westport and Dartmouth |
At the request of the towns of Dartmouth and Westport, as well as the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) District 5 Office, SRPEDD has begun a study of the Route 6 Corridor, among other reasons, in response to safety concerns following recent automobile crashes including two which resulted in fatalities. SRPEDD will be partnering on the study effort with the MassDOT District 5 Office, and MassDOT personnel in addressing immediate needs to improve roadside safety while SRPEDD assesses long-term needs based on development trends along the corridor and the resulting traffic flow and safety issues.
The study will be divided into two phases. Phase 1 will consist of collecting existing data along the corridor, including traffic counts (both 24-hour and turning movements at key intersections) roadway geometrics and layout. Additional data collection will include crash records from the Registry of Motor Vehicles through the MassDOT IMPACT tool and crash diagrams provided by the respective police departments for Dartmouth and Westport. Phase 2, beginning in October, will examine future land use development as well as potential improvement projects for consideration. Any recommendations for improvement will be considered by the communities, but more importantly, by MassDOT who is responsible for the maintenance of the corridor. It is anticipated that this study will conclude in the Spring/Summer of 2022. Please contact Jacqueline Jones at jjones@srpedd.org or Gregory Guertin at gguertin@srpedd.org for more information, questions or comments.
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SRPEDD Continues to Support Green Communities |
SRPEDD is continuing to support 18 designated Green Communities with their grant requirements as the program rounds the corner into its fall annual reporting period, and is coordinating with non-designated communities to identify barriers and opportunities for applying to the program.
The goal of the Green Communities program is to help towns find clean energy solutions that reduce long-term energy costs and strengthen local economies. It accomplishes this through several core features: recognition of zoning districts that permit renewable energy siting or production; creation of a plan to reduce municipal carbon emissions by 20%; requirements to buy electric or hybrid vehicles where possible, and adoption of energy-saving building codes.
SRPEDD’s work under this initiative is funded in large part by the Regional Energy Planning Assistance (REPA) program, which expired on May 31st 2021. SRPEDD has collaborated with our member communities to apply for renewed REPA funding for 2021-2023. SRPEDD requested $72,311.42 in grants to help us complete designation applications, annual reports, and competitive grant applications on behalf of our communities. The Green Communities program is also expanding its portfolio into municipal Net Zero planning.
As part of the REPA grant, SRPEDD also applied for $4,000 toward a region-wide program for capacity building to familiarize our 27 member communities with the tools and case studies that exist in the municipal clean energy planning space and that are supported by the Green Communities program. We propose to use two of our existing SRPEDD platforms, the Lunch and Learn info session series along with regular SRPEDD Commission Meetings, to introduce the purpose and positive outcomes from utilization of the net-zero Playbook and the MAPC/DNV-GL GHG tool. If funded, these sessions will communicate the benefits of entering into net zero planning, the connection with the Massachusetts 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap, and the assistance available for net zero planning through the Green Communities program.
We would also like to acknowledge Eric Arbeene, who elevated SRPEDD’s involvement and support of the Green Communities program, who has since moved on to a new position as the Town of Wellesley’s Assistant Town Planner. For more information, please contact hzincavage@srpedd.org.
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Congratulations to SRPEDD's Bill Napolitano, Welcome to New Employees, and Other Personnel Updates |
Congratulations to Bill Napolitano (on the left in photo), SRPEDD’s Rivers, Watersheds and Trails Coordinator, who was recently awarded Save The Bay’s 2021 Environmental Achievement Award. Save The Bay made this award on the basis of all that Bill has done for the Taunton River and the residents in our region who care deeply for the Taunton and its tributaries, also noting Bill’s ever-present, effervescent and contagious positive attitude and passion for his work in all spheres.
The Environmental Team and SRPEDD as a whole wish to extend a warm welcome to our newest team member, Danica Belknap (on the right in photo), who has recently come aboard as a Senior Environmental Planner. Danica comes to SRPEDD from Mass Audubon, where she was an integral part of their climate resilience and local community engagement work programs.
A hearty and enthusiastic welcome as well to the following new employees who have similarly joined since the last newsletter went out: Principal Comprehensive Planner and Project Manager Robert Cabral, Senior Transportation Planner Sean Hilton, Principal Comprehensive Planner Phillip Hu, and Comprehensive Planner Benjamin Myers; a number of whom you may have already had opportunity to meet, and each of whom we are very excited to have as a member of the expanding SRPEDD team. Welcome all!
Lastly, the other personnel update is that Helen Zincavage is now the Director of Environmental Programs at SRPEDD. Helen has brought a great deal of skill and resourcefulness, as well as tremendous initiative and team-building skills to every one of the projects in which she has been involved. During her time at SRPEDD, Helen has also taken advantage of opportunities to become a state certified culvert evaluator and a certified Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) facilitator, complementing her AICP and Certified Floodplain Manager credentials. Congratulations Helen!
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On August 5, 2021, the Southeast Regional Homeland Security Advisory Council (SRAC) elected new leadership for the first time in over a decade. Norton Police Chief Brian Clark will serve as SRAC Chair and Foxborough Fire Chief Michael Kelleher will serve as Vice Chair. Both received the unanimous vote of the full Council, with all 18 voting members present and Massachusetts Undersecretary for Homeland Security, Jeanna Benincasa Thorpe, in attendance.
Chief Clark has served the Norton Police Department for over 30 years, the last 13 years as Chief. Clark received his BA from Stonehill College, a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Western New England College, and is a graduate of the 224th Session of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, VA. Clark is the Bristol County Representative to the Executive Committee of the MA Chiefs of Police Association, the current President of the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council, and the Secretary to the Bristol County Police Chiefs Association. As SRAC Chair, Clark will continue to advocate for joint active shooter trainings with other law enforcement councils and fire service.
Chief Kelleher has been a member of the Foxborough Fire Department since 1996 and has served as the town’s Fire Chief since 2018. Kelleher holds a bachelor’s degree in Occupational Health and Safety and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Crisis Management from Norwich University. Additionally, Kelleher earned a Paramedic Certification from Northeastern University and is a member of the Mass Hazmat Response Team. As SRAC Vice Chair, Kelleher will work diligently to recommend and implement state Homeland Security strategies that address regional planning, training, and exercise needs throughout the SRAC.
SRAC is responsible for meeting the core capabilities of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness set forth by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Council programs and distributes federal funding to projects that increase public safety throughout the 97 communities of the SRAC region. SRPEDD Homeland Security staff provide grant, project, and program management support to the SRAC via the use of State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) grant funding.
For more information, please contact SRPEDD’s Todd Castro and Kevin Ham. Congratulations to Chief Clark and Chief Kelleher.
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88 Broadway
Taunton, MA 02780
Phone: 508-824-1367
Fax: 508-823-1803
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