WILLIAMSBURG — The town and the city of Northampton have landed significant grants through the state’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program that will be used to help construct a new public safety complex in Williamsburg and design a high-energy efficiency affordable housing apartment building behind City Hall in the Paradise City.
Gov. Charlie Baker, speaking on the grounds of the former Helen E. James school and future home of Williamsburg’s safety complex, on Tuesday officially announced the latest round of grants from the program.
The MVP program, created by the Baker administration in 2017, provides grants for communities to identify and adapt to the effects of climate change. The Baker administration awarded $32.8 million in this round of grants, bringing the total amount awarded over the history of the program to $100 million.
“This program is fundamental to a comprehensive strategy here in the commonwealth to deal with climate,” Baker said.
Also speaking were Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, Rep. Paul Mark, D-Becket, and Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton.
Williamsburg Town Administrator Nicholas Caccamo said that the grant, which will be awarded over two years, will mean that the town will have to borrow about $500,000 less for the public safety complex by a “conservative estimate.”
Prior to the grant being awarded the complex was set to cost $5.1 million, with $4.1 million coming from borrowing and $1 million coming from savings. The complex is estimated to open in the fall of 2023.
The money will also allow the building to possibly have solar power and battery storage, which were initially not in the plans because of cost issues. This may allow the building to be energy self-sufficient for up to a week.
“Thank you for helping our town build a public safety complex that will greatly benefit the health and well-being of Williamsburg as well as surrounding communities,” said Paul Wetzel, chairman of the Finance Committee.
Wetzel was a big driver of Williamsburg’s grant effort. In remarks at the announcement, he said that the Baker’s appearance might be the first time that a governor has been in town since acting governor Thomas Talbot came to Haydenville on the day of the 1874 flood.
“Take the picture,” said Baker, who enthusiastically put his arm around Wetzel in response to this information. “I want people to know this one, forever!”
Northampton, meanwhile, will use the $921,300 grant it received to develop a 24-unit climate-resilient apartment building behind City Hall.
Carolyn Misch, the city’s director of planning and sustainability, said that the money will be used for designing and permitting a new building for some of the most vulnerable members of the city’s community, including those coming from or at risk for homelessness.
The building is planned to be built to a passive house energy efficiency standard, and Misch said the goal is to transfer the plans and designs to an affordable housing developer. Additionally, she said the building would be located near public transportation and services.
“We wouldn’t have had the resources to design this building (without the grant),” Misch said.
Additionally, she described the project as a “game-changer in a lot of ways,” and that her predecessor, Wayne Feiden, was instrumental in securing the grant.
Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra also released a statement on the award in which she expressed gratitude for the state support for the project, “which like the recently opened North Commons housing initiative will meet the passive housing standard and forward Northampton’s goals toward climate resilience while providing a place to live for Northampton residents most at risk from climate change.”
The North Commons at Village Hill is a 53-unit affordable housing complex that opened this spring at the site of the former State Hospital campus.
In addition to Williamsburg and Northampton, 77 grants were awarded to Massachusetts communities this round. This includes $304,778 for energy resilience and education, $283,000 for climate-smart comprehensive planning, $162,000 for the Queensville Dam and Buttery Brook Restoration in South Hadley, $117,800 for Emerald Place Resiliency in Easthampton, $139,500 for Scarborough Brook Watershed Improvements in Belchertown, and $27,000 to complete the MVP planning process in Middlefield.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.