The Town will launch the public listening phase of its Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Planning program on Monday, Mar. 9 at 7 p.m., at the Selectboard meeting at Town Hall.

Town personnel will brief the Selectboard about the climate-focused MVP program and present results, including key hazards and priority actions that were generated by last November’s community-resilience building workshop. The public is invited to attend and to provide feedback on the MVP process, a statewide program for cities and towns.

The Massachusetts MVP program provides support for municipalities to plan and implement projects that mitigate climate change impacts and natural hazards at the community level. Any community that completes the program becomes certified by the Commonwealth as an “MVP community” and qualifies for grants to implement resiliency actions. Resiliency applies to infrastructure, the built environment, and natural systems, as well as people and social aspects of the community.

The March 9 public listening session kicks off a series of upcoming opportunities for Great Barrington citizens to provide input on actions the Town can take to mitigate climate change.

Participants are also invited to provide input on the Great Barrington Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan. This input will inform future projects for which the Town may seek both State and Federal implementation funding.

Those interested in receiving a copy of the draft Great Barrington Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan when available, or who would like to host a poster session, may contact Caroline Massa (cmassa@berkshireplanning.org) or Justin Gilmore (jgilmore@berkshireplanning.org) at the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. After this public review phase the Great Barrington Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan with MVP findings will be finalized and submitted for approval to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and ultimately adopted by the Town.

The MVP program is part of the state’s Resilient MA program, a statewide effort to mitigate the impacts of climate change in cities and towns.

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