SAUGUS — The town held its first virtual open house on the Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan funded through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Action Grant program. The event was aimed at discussing potential climate hazards and analyzing the ways of mitigating them.
“It’s always good to hear the voice of the people, because the decisions that we make are going to directly impact the residents,” said Selectwoman Debra Panetta.
She said that it was important for the community to work together to share information about the climate risks and “the best ways to deal with each one of them.”
“When I say risks, I am specifically thinking about flooding, storms, drought, and intense heat that can lead to power outages,” said Panetta.
She said that in Saugus many areas that were not flood zones in the past, are now part of the flood zone, and that means that residents may have to purchase expensive flood insurance, and also if the house is in the flood zone it may make it more difficult to sell it.
“It’s important that people understand about climate adaptation and climate change and what that means for them,” said Panetta.
She said that among the most concerning areas in terms of flooding in Saugus were Precinct 10 and Route 1. A lot of new apartment complexes on Route 1 “have only one way in and one way out” and that would be a serious safety concern if Route 1 floods.
“It’s important that we are prepared and that we explore the various ways to achieve resilience,” said Panetta.
The key to achieving resilience was education and community discussions of the decisions that the town makes for the benefit of all the residents, said Panetta. She also said that the meeting “will put us in a good position for getting additional grant money for Saugus.”
The Town of Saugus was awarded funding for the Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan through the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Action Grant program funded through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
The MVP Action Grant supports municipalities in advancing priority climate adaptation actions to address climate change impacts resulting from extreme weather, sea level rise, inland and coastal flooding, severe heat, and other climate impacts.
The Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan will build on recent efforts, including the MVP planning process, Drainage Master Plan and Hazard Mitigation Plan to assess risks identified in the planning process, examine and communicate how the impacts of these hazards can be reduced through investment in adaptation, and recommend next steps to reduce risk and build resilience in Saugus.
The next step that the town will take after the virtual open house is to develop the adaptation scenarios over the period of July through October-November. The next Open House will be held in September-November in the fall. The final report will be ready in December this year.
The presentation from the virtual open house will be available on the official town’s website, said Panetta, in case more people want to participate and review it.
“The more people involved the better,” said Panetta.
To stay up-to-date with the Saugus Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan and learn about the opportunities to get involved, please fill out the form at https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=fQWQf6A-_kawfOBWhicIG95V_ziaA5tIlAkHPaoVuNFUNEIwU0tFT0lBTVVIQ1o2T0pJV1Q1VzFJMS4u&wdLOR=cD1EFBD8B-E5B8-5D4D-97CD-7DEA60FEB52D.
Oksana Kotkina can be reached at [email protected].
