Looking for information on MAPC’s official meetings and legal notices? Find it here.
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.
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/
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:
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- 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
- Climate Resiliency
- New Challenges of Running A Municipality
- Intergenerational Opportunities: Becoming an Age Friendly Community
- Cybersecurity
- Regionalization of Services
The attendance fee is $20. Pay via Paypal, credit card, cash, or check. Register here: https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07egjmqq6k10d0c333&oseq=&c=&ch=
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
Join the Mass. Association of Regional Planning Agencies and Division of Local Services to hear from special guests Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, the Governor’s former Chief of Staff, Steve Kadish, as well as Secretaries Tesler, Acosta, Kennealy and Card about how to make the most of unprecedented infrastructure modernization resources and build a firm foundation for our Commonwealth’s future. Click here to register.
“Building the Foundation for our Future: Equitable Infrastructure Modernization in Massachusetts” will be hosted at College of the Holy Cross on Thursday, September 29, 2022.
After remarks from the Governor and Lt. Governor, we’ll welcome to the stage Secretaries Tesler, Acosta, Kennealy and Card to talk about the potential available funding in each of their fields, and how communities can work with the Commonwealth to make the most of this funding, followed by a brief audience Q&A.
Afternoon workshops led by senior administration officials and local leaders from across the Commonwealth provide the chance, among other things, to dive deeper into these funding opportunities, think through the challenges facing your community, and hear from other communities looking to work through those same challenges.
Finally, you’ll hear from former Baker Chief of Staff and Harvard Taubman Center Senior Fellow Steve Kadish about some of the most promising strategies for working with community members and stakeholders to make the local change that our communities need.
Workshop topics include:
- Building the Municipal Workforce Pipeline: Challenges and Opportunities
- Early Education Reimagined: Funding Reform and Municipal Implications
- Broadening Broadband: Expanding Access to High-Speed Internet
- Transportation Infrastructure and Recovery: Stimulating Local Economies with Infrastructure Improvements
While there are several criteria for how the Federal government determines grant recipients, the creation of good jobs through projects with commitments to strong labor standards and practices is key. Registered apprenticeships, joint labor-management training programs, certified payroll and the support of local labor organizations can help secure federal infrastructure funding for your projects, all while creating good jobs in your community.
By all indications, apprenticeship will need to greatly expand to meet the demands of Massachusetts’ booming construction industry— the federal government has created incentives in their infrastructure funding to encourage that growth.
Join us for an important conversation co-hosted by MAPC and the Massachusetts Building Trades Unions to learn more about the tools and resources available to your municipality to aide you in your federal application process.
The panel will include:
- Jim Brewer, Director of Government Affairs, North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU)
- Frank Callahan, President, Massachusetts Building Trades Unions
- Heath W. Fahle, Assistant Secretary for Federal Funds, Executive Office for Administration and Finance
- Seth Lattrell, Port Authority Deputy/Planner for Salem
Moderated by Angela Brown, Chief of Economic Development, MAPC