This brown bag is an opportunity for municipalities to learn about resources available through the national SolSmart program. Seven MAPC communities recently received technical assistance from a SolSmart advisor to help them streamline their solar permitting and zoning and to reduce solar soft costs in their communities. You can find out more about SolSmart by visiting: https://www.solsmart.org/

This event will be hosted at MAPC. Please note that in case of a snow cancellation, we will host the brown bag on Thursday, January 25th instead.

Register here.

Do you live in Rockport? Are you interested in helping to shape a future vision for the Rockport commuter rail station area?

Join the Town of Rockport and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) for a public forum on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018 starting a 7 p.m. at Rockport Library, 17 School Street, to learn more about an upcoming project focused on “equitable transit-oriented development,” or eTOD.

Learn more about the visioning process so far and eTOD here.

Open House-style community event at Castle Island Brewing in Norwood!

Some issues are bigger than one neighborhood, city, or town: transportation, housing, climate, jobs, equity, and more.

Your community is working with the region to plan a better future – together. We need you to tell us what you want the region to be like, long term.

The brewery is dog- and kid-friendly, so bring your furry friends along with the rest of the family! The listening session is Open House-style, so drop in any time between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.! Light refreshments will be served.

RSVPs are encouraged so we have a rough head count. RSVP here: https://mapc.ma/CommListeningSession2

Can’t make it to this listening session? Watch the MetroCommon 2050 event page to learn about more: https://metrocommon.mapc.org/events/

DUXBURY – Do you live in Duxbury? Are you interested in helping to craft a vision for the community’s future? Now is your chance to weigh in on the town’s draft master plan!

Join us for a public forum on Tuesday, March 26, 2019 in the Merry Room of the Duxbury Free Library, located at 77 Alden St., to help put the finishing touches on the town’s next master plan, “Envision Duxbury.” The event will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and is free and open to all.

RSVP for the forum online at envisionduxbury.mapc.org.

Envision Duxbury is a comprehensive master plan being developed to guide the future stewardship and economic development of the town, using goals and ideas generated by local community members.

Thousands of residents have offered input via survey, text message, and at public meetings since late 2017 when the project kicked off. The plan has been a collaborative effort of the Duxbury Planning Board, town Planning Director, and a group of dedicated local “Master Plan Ambassadors” have been working with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) in Boston. MAPC is the regional planning agency serving Duxbury and 100 other cities and towns across Greater Boston.

During the course of the Envision Duxbury process, residents of all ages, business owners, elected and appointed representatives, and others in town have had the chance to weigh in on important issues facing Duxbury, including housing, arts & culture, open space, recreation, sustainability, development, transportation, infrastructure, and zoning. This last community meeting will bring together the goals and strategies for each element of the master plan so the public can give feedback and share their priorities before the final plan is compiled and refined. Once community input is synthesized and the top priorities emerge, planners will share a final document this spring with a full draft plan expected by June.

For more information, visit envisionduxbury.mapc.org and on the “Envision Duxbury” tab on the town’s website, or by contacting MAPC Project Manager Josh Fiala at jfiala@mapc.org or 617-933-0760.

Questions or special need? Please reach out to Duxbury Town Planner Valerie Massard at massard@town.duxbury.ma.us or 781-934-1100 x5476.

On Tuesday, April 9, from 12:30 – 1:30 pm MAPC will host a pre-season planning webinar for our Peak Demand Management Program. This summer will be MAPC’s fifth year helping cities and towns reduce demand and capacity charges, and we are excited to work with returning veterans and new participants alike.

Tune into our Program Kick-Off Webinar to learn more about:

• • National Grid and Eversource’s new demand management offerings and incentives that were formalized in the state’s new 2019-2021 Energy Efficiency Plan.
  • MAPC’s Peak Demand Management Program – we will provide data about the scope and impact of last year’s participants, and cover the basics of capacity charges.
  • Current participants – we will from several municipal staff on their experiences and best practices with demand reduction, with a highlight of one community’s plans to integrate battery storage.

MAPC’s daily notifications won’t start until June 2019, but now is the time to start planning for process improvements and potential hardware upgrades to maximize your demand reduction potential this summer. We hope you can join us on April 9!

Register for this upcoming webinar at this link.

This webinar will discuss climate-smart parks in Metro Boston, covering the available tools, data analysis, and planning and design strategies for successful implementation. The Trust for Public Land and Metropolitan Area Planning Council developed and implemented a Climate Smart Parks data analysis and mapping tool to help Massachusetts towns plan and design urban parks and green infrastructure installations to support urban climate resilience. The metro-Boston city of Medford will showcase these tools and strategies in action with a real-world climate-resilient green infrastructure case study developed and implemented through the Metro Mayors Program.

• Brendan Shane, Director of Climate, The Trust for Public Land
• Darci Schofield, Senior Environmental Planner, Metropolitan Area Planning Council
• Alicia Hunt, Sustainability Director, City of Medford, MA

Learn more: https://www.epa.gov/soakuptherain/soak-rain-new-england-webinar-series

Solar Remote Permitting & Inspection Best Practices: COVID-19 Impacts and Long-Term Potential

Please join MassCEC, MAPC, and SolSmart to learn about best practices on remote permitting and inspection during COVID-19, and the long-term potential of those practices. The webinar will feature guest speakers from three Massachusetts communities; Gardner, Brockton, and Lowell. If you have questions regarding registration, please contact solar@masscec.com.

Register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7565282524044732684