Winter 2019 MVPC MATTERS Economic Development Environmental Transportation Meetings & Events Phillips Academy, Andover - Essex National Heritage NECC Hosts Semi-Annual Meeting of Legislative Delegation - written by Karen Conard, MVPC Executive Director Rep. Frank Moran, Mayor Ken Gray, Town Mgr. Neil Harrington, Reps. Christina Minicucci and Linda Dean Campbell In November, Northern Essex Community College President Lane Glenn welcomed State Senators and Representatives along with Mayors, Town Managers and Town Administrators. We said farewell to outgoing Senators Kathleen O’Connor Ives and Barbara L’Italien, and welcomed in new Senators Diana DiZoglio and Barry Feingold. We recognized outgoing Representatives Diana DiZoglio, Juana Matias and Jim Lyons, and welcomed in new Representatives Christina Minicucci, Tram Nguyen and Marcos Devers. Andover Town Manager Andrew Flanagan and North Andover Town Manager Andrew Maylor gave informal remarks on the September 13th gas explosions and the aftermath. President Glenn and several of the legislators joined in on the conversation. Other topics of note included end of session legislative matters, education funding (transportation, special education and charter schools), combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and the state stormwater management mandate (known as MS4). MVPC senior leadership thanked the delegation for their continued support of District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) funding, which is a critical component of our operating budget, mentioned the upcoming launch of the business and economic development website wearemv.com and previewed the work to be done in preparation for the 2020 Regional Transportation Plan. Our next meeting of this group is set for April. Winter 2019 WeAreMV is Alive ! - written by Angela Cleveland, AICP, Senior Economic Development Planner After a year in the making, the new WeAreMV.com website is live! Throughout 2018, MVPC staff worked with Primary Design to create an economic and business development website that embraces our brand: Merrimack Valley – Here for the Making. WeAreMV.com replaces MVMB.biz completely, bringing back some of your favorite resources, like the Property Search Engine and news posts, while repositioning ourselves as a go-to resource for solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, and small businesses with business Success Stories and an interactive Business Toolkit. This toolkit can be searched by the stage of business as well as the type of assistance needed. We will continue adding new resources to this tool to keep it fresh and relevant. The Success Stories page highlights entrepreneurs in the Merrimack Valley, how they started, how they stumbled, and who they turned to for success. Our goal with these stories is to show how “Knowledge Runs Deep” in the Valley, and that hearing these stories can help you succeed. We will continue to populate these stories and look forward to your ideas for future interviews for the page! The revamped Property Search Engine is our pride and joy. We revved up the previous Property Search Engine by: Expanding the search to include all 15 communities in the region Including ALL available properties, no matter what size (previously we listed sites over 5,000 sf) Including six incentive districts to help businesses understand what’s available Using Pictometry, a high-quality mapping feature that allows you to see the available property from every angle, including a true top-down view and highly accurate depiction of the surroundings. Creating a section for Featured Properties so we can highlight specific locations around the Merrimack Valley for lease or sale. We continue to use CoStar as the foundation for the Property Search Engine, but recognize it only captures about 90% of the available properties in the region. If you know of a property for sale or lease, please contact Karen Conard to get that property listed: [email protected] Please feel free to list the site in your newsletter, social media or your website – the more use it gets the better it is! We look forward to your visit to WeAreMV.com. Development of Merrimack Valley MPO FFYs 2020-2024 Transportation Improvement Program - written by Anthony Komornick, Transportation Program Manager In January, MVPC will begin working with its MPO partners in developing the Merrimack Valley MPO’s FFYs 2020- 2024 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). This federally mandated document lists all the transportation pro- jects that will be undertaken in the Merrimack Valley region over the next five federal fiscal years. It is anticipated that this process will conclude with MVMPO endorsement of the TIP later this spring. Persons interested learning more about and/or becoming involved in this process should contact Transportation Program Manager Anthony Komornick [email protected] . Winter 2019 MVPC Communities Earn Green Community Status written by Joseph Cosgrove, Environmental Program Manager Boxford, Haverhill, Merrimac and Methuen closed out 2018 with celebratory news of their designation as Massachusetts Green Communities. The four Merrimack Valley communities are among 30 newly-named Green Communities across the Commonwealth announced by the Baker- Polito Administration at the end of December. The latest round of designations brings the number of Green Communities statewide to 240 municipalities. Eleven of the 15 Merrimack Valley cities and towns are now Green Communities. MVPC worked with Boxford, Haverhill, Merrimac and Methuen over the past year in building their inventories of municipal energy usage, preparing energy reduction plans and assembling the designation applications submitted to the MA Dept. of Energy Resources (DOER) by the October deadline. In seeking to become Green Communities, the four communities committed to goals of reducing municipal energy usage by 20% over five years. They are also implementing fuel efficient vehicle purchase policies, establishing streamlined permitting processes for clean energy generation facilities, and enforcing energy efficiency standards for new residential and major commercial construction. By earning Green Community status, Boxford, Haverhill, Merrimac and Methuen each received Designation Grant funding awards and are now eligible for future rounds of competitive Green Community Program funding. The program grants can be used to undertake a wide range of energy efficiency projects such as lighting upgrades to LED technology, installation of building energy management control systems, replacement of outdated boilers, conversion of heating systems to clean energy fuel sources and completion of weatherization measures. The latest Green Community Designation Grant awards total more than $4.8 million state-wide, of which $856,666 will be going to the Merrimack Valley. Breakdown of awards for each MVPC community are: Boxford - $131,640 Merrimac - $141,881 Haverhill - $314.505 Methuen - $268,640 “The Department of Energy Resources is proud to partner with cities and towns across Massachusetts as they make municipal buildings and vehicle fleets clean and efficient to ultimately lower emissions,” said DOER Commissioner Judith Judson. “Today’s designation is representative of the commitment these municipalities have to create a cleaner, affordable and resilient energy future for the Commonwealth.” MVPC and Great Marsh Partnership Receives Award to Protect Coastal Communities - written by Peter Phippen, Coastal Coordinator The Merrimack Valley Planning Commission and the Great Marsh Partnership team was recently awarded a $1.2M grant from the Na- tional Fish and Wildlife Foundation to protect the coastal communities and enhance fish and wildlife habitat in the Great Marsh. The funding directed to the Great Marsh was the only award in Massachusetts of the nearly $30M National Coastal Resiliency Fund. The key projects that will be implemented included native marsh vegetation restoration through the management and removal of invasive plants and eelgrass restoration and, to mitigate impacts of sea level rise on the marsh, marsh platform drainage improvements such as runneling (small, shallow swales or ditches) will be employed at strate- gic locations. Project partners include Merrimack Valley Planning Commission/MassBays National Estuary Program, Boston University, University of New Hampshire, and the Mass Audubon. Winter 2019 Congresswoman Niki Tsongas Hosts Regional Opioid Forum - written by Karen Conard, MVPC Executive Director In December MVPC and Methuen Mayor Jim Jajuga welcomed outgoing Congresswoman Niki Tsongas and several federal, state and local officials to discuss the resources available to MVPC member communities to combat the opioid epidemic in the Merrimack Valley. Panelists included federal Health and Human Services Regional Director John McGough, Housing and Urban Development Regional Director David Tille, Agriculture Regional Director Kurt Messner and senior leadership from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Drug Enforcement Administration, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, FBI, and Secret Service. State participation came from Essex County Sherriff Kevin Coppinger and the MA Department of Public Health Bureau of Substance Addiction Services. In addition to the panel of federal and state leaders, there were resource tables from local advocacy groups including the MA Organization for Addiction Recovery, the Merrimack Valley Prevention and Substance Abuse Project and the Methuen Police Department’s CARES Program. One panelist shared his compelling human impact story. Secret