Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Sub Committee
| Note: The MVP Subcommittee of the HEAC is no longer an active subcommittee. It was dissolved once their work was completed and the prioritization reports submitted to the State. Presently, the Town of Harvard is continuing to work on MVP through an action grant received earlier this year. A new committee was formed to manage the Action Grant and help begin to develop a Climate Action Plan for Harvard. For information on this new committee and their continuing work with MVP, please visit the Community Resilience Working Group page and the Harvard's Climate Initiative page. |
The MVP Final Reports (General and Agricultural) have been uploaded and can be accessed via the link in the left index. Any questions, please contact Christopher Ryan at 978-456-4100 x.323 or cryan@harvard.ma.us
On September 9 of 2019, the Town of Harvard received word that we have been awarded our certification as an MVP community. Harvard is now eligible for MVP action grants.
The Town of Harvard received at $35K grant in June 2018 to conduct a community-wide assessment of significant vulnerabilities and risks from the impacts of climate change. The state-sponsored Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program provides communities with technical support, climate change data and planning tools to identify hazards to infastructure, public saftey and health, and to other critical resources, as well as to develop resilience strategies. Support from the Select Board, Conservation Agent, Town Planner, and the Energy Advisory Committee was critical in the creation of a grant proposal, accompanied by letters of support from DPW Director Tim Kilhart and many other town boards and committees. A significant portion of the funding will be devoted to assessing vulnerabilities to Harvard's orchards and other agricultural lands.
The risk assessment process involvedworking with a state-approved consultant and "stakeholders" in Harvard, first to identify risks/vulnerabilities, for example flood-prone areas with critical infrastructure or main access routes. Stakeholders included public schools, Police and Fire Departments, DPW, commercial entities, and our significant orchard and other agricultural operations - to mention a few. Discussions took place during public meetings and "Community Resilience Building" (CRB) workshops, which refined the process.
Municipalities who complete this process and develop a final report will be designated as an “MVP Community,” which leads to increased standing in other state grant programs, including MVP implementation grants. Harvard completed the program and was designated as an MVP Community on September 9, 2019.
Agricultural Survey - results of the Agricultural Survey are available here
Community Input Survey - The survey is now closed. Thank you for your participation. Results can be found in the documents link to the left.
Contact Christopher Ryan at 978-456-4100 x.323 or email at cryan@harvard.ma.us
Staff Contacts
