GREENFIELD, MA (FRANKLIN COUNTY NOW) — The city of Greenfield has received a nearly $38,000 grant to build climate resilience by restoring the former Wedgewood Gardens trailer park, now known as Millers Meadow, with native plants. Portions of the planting areas are within 200-foot Riverfront area of the Greenfield River where plantings will be protected and will stabilize the bank against erosion. Greenfield is one of 71 projects to receive an award through the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program.
From the City of Greenfield:
Greenfield Awarded $37,830 MVP Action Grant to Build Climate Resilience
GREENFIELD – Greenfield is thrilled to announce it has received a $37,830.49 climate resilience grant to restore Millers Meadow, the former Wedgewood Gardens trailer park with native plants. Awarded by the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program, which is administered by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA), these competitive grants support communities in identifying climate hazards, developing strategies to improve resilience, and implementing priority actions to adapt to climate change. Greenfield’s project is one of 71 projects to have received action grant funding in the latest round of applications.
“Our project addresses several of the recommended improvements to Wedgewood Gardens (now known as Millers Meadow),” said Planning Director Eric Twarog. “Portions of the native planting areas are within the 200-foot Riverfront Area of the Greenfield River, where planting trees in this protected area will contribute to stabilizing the bank against erosion. A pollinator meadow will transform the site’s eastern slope. The project will beautify and enhance this public space for passive recreational uses, including dog-walking and other activities, and enhance the experience by drawing birds and butterflies to the area.”
Building on Greenfield’s climate resilience planning process completed in 2021, these funds will allow Greenfield to address the role and importance of floodplains and carbon sequestration, recommendations which are listed as a high priority in Greenfield’s MVP Resiliency Plan. We’ll also be promoting the importance of native pollinator plants, shrubs, and trees to foster climate change resiliency and support plant and wildlife biodiversity by creating native habitat, cooling the local environment, and sequestering carbon. The project aims to help mitigate flooding from the Green River through the nature-based solution of planting trees and shrubs.
Project partners include Nancy Hazard and Dorothea Sotiros, plant experts with Greening Greenfield, Peter Wackernagel, Landscape Designer, and Youth Climate Action of Franklin County (YCAFC) Team Members. Through the project the city also strives to engage and educate the public with a focus on youth and building community.
The MVP program, created in 2017, provides funding for community-driven climate resilience planning and action. Ninety-nine percent, or 349 out of 351 of the Commonwealth’s cities and towns, are participating in the program and over $180 million has been awarded for local climate resilience planning and projects. Communities originally enrolled in the program by completing the MVP Planning Grant process (MVP 1.0), which then opened up access to apply for an MVP Action Grant, or implementation funding.