Acton and team received Community Innovation Challenge Grant

[fran...@aol.com]

Good Morning,

 

Please see below a press release regarding grant awards given in the Community Innovation Challenge program yesterday. You may note that for the second year in a row the Regional Shared Transportation project was one of the 27 applications to receive an award. In this new grant we will be expanding our original five communities of Acton, Boxborough, Littleton, Maynard and Stow to include Concord, Westford and possibly Carlisle. Our private partners will expand from Clock Tower Place of Maynard to also include Fiba, Cisco, IBM, Sam Park Co and possibly Red Hat. The goal of the project is to create a Transit Management Association “CrossTown Connect” which will work to develop a comprehensive and cohesive transportation system which will meet the needs of para-transit riders, commuters, reverse commuters and the general public. Attached is a picture from yesterday’s grant award ceremony. From left to right is Jessica Strunkin, Deputy Director of Public Policy and Public Affairs 495/MetroWest Partnership, Steve Ledoux, Acton Town Manager, Doug Halley, Acton Health Director, Keith Bergman, Littleton Town Administrator, Franny Osman, Acton Transportation Advisory Committee, Mike Gowing, Acton Board of Selectmen and Timothy Murray, Lt. Governor.

 

 

Doug

 

 

From: Intern, Press (GOV)
Sent: Tuesday, February 12, 2013 12:35 PM
Subject: PATRICK-MURRAY ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES $2.25 MILLION IN COMMUNITY INNOVATION CHALLENGE GRANTS FOR MUNICIPALITIES, REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND PLANNING AGENCIES ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS

 

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Department
Office of Governor Deval L. Patrick
Press Release
Contact: Heather Johnson, Bonnie McGilpin, Juli Hanscom – 617-725-4025; Lauren Jones (LG) – 617-725-4000; Alex Zaroulis (ANF) – 617-727-2040
                        Follow us on Twitter – View our Photos – Watch our Videos

PATRICK-MURRAY ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES $2.25 MILLION IN COMMUNITY INNOVATION CHALLENGE GRANTS FOR MUNICIPALITIES, REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND PLANNING AGENCIES ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS

BOSTON – Tuesday, February 12, 2013 – Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray and Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor today announced the 27 recipients of the $2.25 million Community Innovation Challenge (CIC) grant program to incentivize and support innovative regionalization and other cost saving initiatives. These programs will change the way local governments do business to maintain service delivery and stretch every tax payer dollar as far as possible.

 

The 27 recipients of the FY 2013 CIC grant program span 162 cities and towns. The project recipients reflect geographic and income diversity across the Commonwealth, including several Gateway Cities.

 

“The first round of the Community Innovation Challenge Grant program was a success, attracting wide interest by municipalities and planning agencies to develop regionalization and innovation strategies on the local level,” said Lieutenant Governor Murray.  “We’re excited to continue this program with the second round of award recipients who have all proposed more innovative opportunities and cost-saving measures to collaborate, regionalize and maintain valuable local services.”

 

“Our new fiscal reality demands that government change the way it does business to stretch every taxpayer dollar as far as possible,” said Secretary Shor. “The Patrick-Murray Administration’s CIC grant program is just one of the many ways we are working to give cities and towns the tools they need to drive change in local government. I am excited that the second round of this program will provide for the continuation and expansion of some really great programs and jump-start brand new ones.”

 

Regionalization is an opportunity for neighboring communities to build partnerships to engage in shared services, inter-municipal agreements, municipal collaborations, consolidations, mutual aid and regional planning to reduce the risk of duplicating efforts and unnecessary spending of limited taxpayer dollars. With 351 cities and towns spanning the Commonwealth, there are countless ways to collaborate and work together to maintain important local services and deliver those services effectively and efficiently.

 

The CIC grant program is one more example of the kind of reforms the Patrick-Murray Administration has made in challenging fiscal times to make government more effective and efficient. CICG provides incentives, such as technical assistance, training and other one-time or transition funding for municipal leaders to work together to pursue innovative ways to deliver critical services to taxpayers more efficiently. Ideal projects for the grant program include those with the potential for greatest impact, high levels of innovation and substantial potential cost savings for municipalities.

 

“I commend the Patrick-Murray Administration for their continued support in securing funds for the Community Innovation Challenge Grant Program,” said House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo. “As the cities and towns across the Commonwealth begin to emerge from this economic downturn, it remains important that state leaders continue to find ways to make government more effective and efficient.”

 

In the FY 2012 budget, Governor Patrick authorized the development of a competitive grant program to encourage and incentivize regionalization based upon the belief that the most crucial and visible interactions between government and citizen occur locally. A grant program was proposed in the Governor’s budget, and supported by the Legislature, providing $4 million for regionalization and other initiatives that will improve the effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of local services. In FY 2012, the Patrick-Murray Administration invested in 27 projects across the Commonwealth. These projects involved 138 cities and towns and are currently being finished. The results and outcomes of each project will be shared with the general public this summer on the ANF website.

 

FY 2013 Community Innovation Challenge Grant Recipients:

 

Education

 

Creating in District Programs for Students with Severe Emotional and Behavioral Disorders ($110,800)

School districts of the towns of Agawam, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Ludlow, and West Springfield; Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District; Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District

 

Berkshire County Curriculum Frameworks Project ($89,520)

Central Berkshire Regional School District (Lead); Adams-Cheshire Regional School District; Berkshire Hills Regional School District; Northern Berkshire Vocational Technical School District; Southern Berkshire Regional School District; The public school districts of the towns of Clarksburg, Florida, Savoy, Lee, and Lenox

 

Expanding Regional Services for Students with Dyslexia ($73,000)

Manchester-Essex Regional School District

 

Regionalizing Technology Support Services ($52,037)

School districts of the Towns of Richmond (Lead), Hancock, and New Ashford

 

School StatNet Pilot ($38,326)

Cities of Somerville (Lead), Fitchburg, Revere, and Chicopee

 

Financial Services

 

Regionalization of Assessment Services ($35,000)

Towns of Amherst (Lead) and Pelham

 

Public Health

 

Public Health Nursing Program, Year 2 ($54,840)

Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (Lead); City of North Adams; Towns of Adams, Alford, Becket, Clarksburg, Dalton, Charlemont, Great Barrington, Hancock, Lanesborough, Mt. Washington, New Marlborough, Peru, Richmond, Sandisfield, Savoy, Sheffield, Washington, West Stockbridge, Williamstown, Windsor

 

Local Boards of Health On-Line Tobacco Retailer Certification Program ($25,250)

Towns of Lee (Lead), Lenox, and Stockbridge

 

Cooperative Public Health Service ($68,317)

Franklin Regional Council of Governments (Lead); Towns of Buckland, Charlemont, Conway, Deerfield, Gill, Hawley, Heath, Monroe, Leyden, Shelburne

 

Hampden County Health Alliance ($45,000)

Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (Lead); Cities of Holyoke and Springfield; Towns of Westfield, West Springfield, Blandford, Granville, Ludlow, Palmer, and Southwick

 

Public Works and Environmental Affairs

 

Regional Highway Equipment Cooperative- Phase 2 ($24,500)

Towns of Brookfield (Lead), Brimfield, East Brookfield, Hardwick, Warren, and West Brookfield

 

Northern Middlesex Storm Water Collaborative ($98,000)

Northern Middlsex Council of Governments (Lead); City of Lowell; Towns of Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Pepperell, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Westford

 

Cape Cod Great White Shark Research and Outreach Program ($50,000)

Towns of Orleans (Lead); Chatham, Truro, Nantucket, Harwich, Yarmouth, Dennis, Wellfleet, Provincetown, Brewster, and Barnstable

 

Regionalizing Municipal Storm Water Management in Central Massachusetts ($115,000)

Towns of Spencer (Lead), Auburn, Charlton, Dudley, Holden, Leicester, Millbury, Oxford, Paxton, Shrewsbury, Spencer, Sturbridge, Webster, West Boylston, Boylston, Grafton, Hardwick, Monson, New Braintree, Northbridge, Northborough, North Brookfield, Palmer, Princeton, Rutland, Southbridge, Sterling, Upton, Ware, Westborough, Wilbraham

 

Regional Department of Public Facilities and Infrastructure ($30,000)

Towns of Wenham (Lead) and Hamilton; Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District

 

Information Technology

 

Central Massachusetts Regional Electronic Permitting Collaborative ($112,000)

Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC) (Lead); Towns of Barre, Blackstone, Boylston, Dudley, Hardwick, Leicester, Northbridge, Spencer, and Upton

 

Hampshire Cloud ($80,000)

Hampshire Council of Governments (Lead); Towns of Chesterfield and Hadley

 

Electronic Weights and Measures Inspection ($21,550)

Towns of Holliston (Lead), Ashland, Medway, and Millis

 

Malden 311 and Workers’ Compensation Reentry Program ($27,780)

City of Malden

 

Regionally Improving Citizen Access and Service Delivery ($80,000)

Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (Lead); Cities of Amesbury, Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen, and Newburyport; Towns of Andover, North Andover, and Salisbury

 

Expansion of the Southeast Fire Department Electronic Records and Permitting Collaborative ($75,000)

 

Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) (Lead); City of Fall River; Towns of North Attleborough, Seekonk, Marion, Westport, and Fairhaven

 

Municipal Open Checkbook System ($120,000)

Cities of Woburn (Lead), Chelsea, Chicopee, and Revere; Town of Brookline

 

Transportation

 

Expansion and Implementation of a Reconfigured Transportation Management Association ($60,000)

Towns of Acton (Lead); Boxborough, Concord, Littleton, Maynard, Stow, and Westford

 

Regional Paratransit Services (Two Town Trolley) ($30,600)

Towns of East Longmeadow (Lead) and Hampden

 

Library

 

The Ames Free Library’s Creative Commons @ Queset House ($40,000)

Town of Easton

 

Public Safety

 

Northwestern District Anti-Crime Task Force Program ($81,288)

Franklin Regional Council of Governments (Lead); Cities of Greenfield and Northampton; Towns of Athol, Amherst, and Montague

 

NoFires ($63,750)

Hampshire Council of Governments (Lead); City of Holyoke; Towns of Athol, Erving, New Salem, Orange, Petersham, Phillipston, Royalston, Warwick, and Wendell

 

Rutland Regional Animal Control ($83,904)

Towns of Rutland (Lead), Oakham, Barre, and Paxton

 

Housing

 

Massachusetts Housing Data Portal ($50,000)

Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)

 

Veterans’ Serivces

 

Expansion of Professional Regionalized Veterans Services ($35,083)

City of Northampton (Lead); Towns of Amherst, Chesterfield, Williamsburg, Cummington, Goshen, Pelham, Worthington, Hadley, and Middlefield