EASTHAMPTON – The city has received a $175,957 Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Action Grant to support the Green Infrastructure Planning and Resiliency Design for the Cherry Street project.

Green infrastructure is letting water drain into the ground through grass, soil, rain gardens while gray infrastructure is what we usually see with manholes, dams, pipes, and sewer systems.

The grant is related to climate change and its impacts. Staff Engineer Diane Rossini said this allows the city to do some larger projects that without the funding are difficult to do even though they are much needed.

“As part of this specific grant, we will be looking at designing our drainage system for the future. One project is at a specific site, Cherry Street outfall, which we will rebuild but in a new, greener way,” Rossini said.

Along with this project, they are also doing a green infrastructure planning study so they can incorporate green infrastructure into future projects. Rossini said green infrastructure can be cheaper and easier to maintain in some cases. For example, the city may be able to add some green infrastructure to an area that has started to see more flooding to handle the flow instead of upsizing the pipes which could cost more and finding more space underground in already crowded areas. She also said green infrastructure cleans stormwater naturally before taking it to the rivers, streams, and lakes.

Mayor Nicole LaChapelle said a project like this has been needed for the city for years, maybe even a decade, but the funding was not available. Two years ago when the grant became available through the state and MVP, the first thing they did was conduct an eight-hour study that included community input where they identified and prioritized issues in Easthampton.

When the city first applied they did not get it, but this grant cycle they got partial money. LaChapelle said they will continue to reapply for the MVP money and go through the list of projects that needed to be done. Their next public outreach will be smaller since they have a better understanding of what they need and it will be different because of the coronavirus.

In June, state Rep. Daniel R. Carey submitted a letter in support and worked with the local city officials in finding the important area as well as helping with the application process.

Carey said it is a very important grant and there is a lot of aging of infrastructure underground so for the state to assist with funding is money well spent.

“This is a grant that has a one year time table. All work must be completed by June 30, 2021. Related to the Cherry Street outfall portion, this will just be the design and permitting stage as that is all that could be completed on that time table,” Rossini said.

The city plans on applying for funding again next year, hopefully under the same grant program to build the actual design.

The funding comes from $11.1 million awarded by the Baker-Polito administration. The MVP program provides cities and towns with the support to identify climate hazards, develop strategies to improve, and achieve actions to adapt to climate change.