SWAMPSCOTT — The Climate Action Plan Committee discussed the town’s new climate action resilience manager role at a meeting Tuesday.
Climate Action Plan Committee Vice Chair Doug Thompson said the Select Board received $100,000 through American Rescue Plan Act funding to create the role.
“That long-sought dream is becoming a little bit more closer to reality,” Thompson said. “With ARPA, it will need to be a consultant. We can’t hire full-time employees with that.”
However, Thompson said that he intends to make it a full-time position after the ARPA funds have been exhausted.
Committee member Neal Duffy asked whether the role would focus on resilience and adaptation, sustainability, or both.
“You need someone as a point person to facilitate and energize and direct these types of efforts, which is the point of what this position will be, in terms of carbon-emission reduction and resilience efforts,” Thompson responded.
Another committee member, Lilly Worthley, suggested that the committee’s members consider what they want the role to accomplish in a one-year period “as a gap-filling aspect.”
The committee discussed climate-resiliency grants later in the meeting. There was an extended discussion on a federal Department of Energy grant that is targeted toward Native American tribes, disadvantaged communities, and small- to medium-sized cities and towns.
“We’re certainly not going to do this unless we can do it with Lynn,” Thompson said. “Lynn is considering it, and we’re waiting to hear back from them.”
He said the grant would help low-income and lower-moderate-income families in town.
“This is for buying heat pumps and putting on solar,” Thompson said.
Although Thompson described the grant as “a long shot,” he argued that the process of considering it is still very useful.
Committee member Geralyn Falco said that even if the committee does not receive the grant, applying for it could be helpful.
“If we put in an application this year, we don’t get it, but we do it next year, we know what we went through and we know how to get through that,” Falco said.
