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MARPA Gathers for District Local Technical Assistance Day

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MARPA Gathers for District Local Technical Assistance Day

March 27, 2024 - Yesterday, leaders from most of the Commonwealth’s 13 regional planning agencies gathered on Beacon Hill to advocate for District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) and the Grant Assistance Program (GAP), two critical programs that support local projects across the Commonwealth. Representative Paul Donato and Senator Jamie Eldridge opened the event as legislative sponsors, noting the programs' contributions to their district. 

Linda Dunlavy, Executive Director of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments and Jeff Walker, Executive Director of the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District, and the co-chairs of MARPA (the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies), gave an overview of the DLTA program’s offering to communities. Lizzi Weyant, Deputy Executive Director of MAPC, explained how GAP is helping communities across the state win federal funding for critical local projects. 

Fellow MARPA Executive Directors Jenny Raitt of the Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG), Kim Robinson of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC), Jerrard Whitten of the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (MVPC), their staff, and MAPC then took a deeper dive into the projects that the two programs have enabled in their regions. These projects included:  

  • Graniteville Neighborhood Brownfields Inventory (Westford): 
  • Housing Strategy for the Greater Lowell Region 
  • Hilltown Community Ambulance Association Regional Emergency Medical Services Study (PVPC)  
  • Solar Best Practices Guide developed (PVPC)  
  • Housing Production Plans (MVPV) 
  • Support municipalities with MBTA communities compliance (MVPC)  
  • Supporting Regionalization, Small Communities, and Innovative Thinking (MAPC)  

Following the event’s speaking component, legislators took time to speak one-on-one with regional planning agency staff about projects in their districts enabled by the programs. 

MAPC and the MARPA are requesting that DLTA funding be increased to $3.4 million, and that GAP be level funded at $2 million in the FY25 budget to keep these critical local projects moving forward despite challenging fiscal times. To learn more about DLTA’s impact in the MAPC region click here.