This spring the RSRP team has been busy catching up with fellow planners and climate change professionals at conferences and meetings. 

Maine Sustainability and Water Conference - Melanie, Karina, and Kaya attended this annual event featuring climate change and environmental research in Maine. There were fascinating presentations about how the wildfire landscape in Maine is changing with climate change and the tensions between developing renewable energy and natural resource protection. There were also many inspiring stories of community climate action from municipal staff and community volunteers.

Dept. of Energy Building Better Summit - Karina went to Washington DC to attend this annual event about energy efficiency and emissions buildings. SMPDC and the Town of Kittery received a giant check to celebrate the $800,000 grant award for the Southern Maine Energy Navigator Pilot Program, and Karina and Kittery Town Manager Kendra Amaral attended workshops for recipients of the award.

Up next, catch Karina at the Maine Association of Planners Conference on May 10^th. Karina will be part of a panel discussion on Effective Communication Strategies for Climate Change.

Saco CAAP - SMPDC has been partnering with Saco to assist in writing their Climate Adaptation and Action Plan. The CAAP draft is now ready to be shared with the public.

After a period of public outreach activities, Saco will now bring the draft plan to the City Council and conduct a two-week period of public comment. This will begin in early May. To stay up to date on progress and participate in the public comment period, visit the webpage or submit feedback to planning@sacomaine.org.

Kennebunkport CAP - The Kennebunkport Climate Action Task Force presented the proposed CAP strategies at the Select Board meeting on March 28, 2024. The Select Board unanimously adopted the strategies, available here. SMPDC and the task force are now working to draft the town's complete CAP. Visit the Kennebunkport Climate Task Force webpage for more information.

Kennebunk CAP - The Kennebunk Climate Acton Plan Task Force has been busy finalizing their CAP strategies. They presented the draft strategies at a Climate Action Open House in March and at a Select Board meeting in April. SMPDC staff are busy putting together the final plan, as the town hopes to have their CAP adopted by the Select Board in April. Visit the Kennebunk Climate Action Plan Task Force webpage for more info on their CAP.

On March 7^th, town leaders, planners, and practitioners from coastal York County were invited to a Coastal Resilience Convening co-hosted by SMPDC and the York County Emergency Management Agency. Speakers included Heather Dumais, from the Maine Emergency Management Agency, Chris Holmes from the State of New York, and Richard Verville from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. These speakers presented information on both public assistance and mitigation programs and funding that are available to coastal Maine communities, especially in light of the recent storms. 

Participants were able to ask questions about which funding buckets are suitable for shovel-ready projects and what projects were eligible for the public assistance and the mitigation funding. There was discussion of applications for funding on a regional basis to make better use of the towns’ capacity and of the funds that are available. This meeting resulted in a better understanding of the processes behind the FEMA and MEMA programs and a renewed energy behind collaborative projects in coastal York County.

During the summer of 2023, the Town of Ogunquit was awarded a Coastal Community Grant by the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The project, ‘Nature-Based Solutions for Stormwater Management and Erosion Control at the Main Beach Parking Lot.’ is funded through the end of December 2024. 

The engineering firm GEI has been selected as the consultant for this project, and project activities are kicking off! In mid-April, a site visit was conducted to allow GEI to begin drafting the site assessment. Look out for opportunities to engage with this project starting in late May or early June once the site assessment is complete!

The Town of Ogunquit will work with SMPDC and GEI to complete a site assessment of the Main Beach parking lot area and surrounding beach and marsh. This assessment will identify suitable NBS for the site and develop an implementation plan for priority NBS strategies.