State announces $4M in Community Innovation Challenge grants

Thirty-seven programs involving 206 cities and towns will share $4 million in Community Innovation Challenge grants, the Patrick administration announced on Feb. 6.

The grant program, now in its third year, is intended to support regionalization and other cost-saving measures.

“This program provides an opportunity for neighboring communities to build partnerships, share services and use their resources wisely,” said Administration and Finance Secretary Glen Shor.

Sen. Stephen Brewer, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, added, “Investing in the relationship between local governments, school districts and regional organizations is fundamental to growth and innovation in our state.”

The program provides incentives, such as technical assistance, training and other one-time or transitional funding, for municipal leaders to work together to pursue innovative ways to deliver services. Ideal projects include those with the potential for greatest impact, high levels of innovation, and substantial potential savings for municipalities.

The $2.25 million fiscal 2013 program invested in 27 projects involving 162 cities and towns.

The following are the Community Innovation Grant recipients in fiscal 2014:
 
Education
• A Collaborative Technology Enhancement Initiative ($158,200)
Tantasqua Regional School District (lead); towns of Brimfield, Brookfield, Holland, Sturbridge and Wales
• Creating an Agriculturally Based Curriculum at Hawlemont ($130,000)
Hawlemont Regional School District
• School StatNet Continuation and Expansion ($90,000)
Cities of Somerville (lead), Everett, Fitchburg, Lowell, Revere and Springfield; town of Westborough
• Establishment of a Regional Technology Infrastructure for the New Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School District ($125,000)
North Shore Vocational Technical School District (lead); Essex Agricultural School District
• Expanding Model Program for Students with Dyslexia ($44,000)
Manchester-Essex Regional School District
 
Environmental Protection/Public Works
• Central Massachusetts Regional Stormwater Coalition ($80,000)
Towns of Spencer (lead), Auburn, Boylston, Charlton, Dudley, Grafton, Hardwick, Holden, Hopkinton, Leicester, Millbury, Monson, Northbridge, Northborough, North Brookfield, Oxford, Palmer, Paxton, Rutland, Shrewsbury, Southbridge, Spencer, Sterling, Sturbridge, Upton, Uxbridge, Ware, Webster, Westborough, West Boylston and Wilbraham
• Gateway City LED Streetlight Retrofits ($237,000)
Metropolitan Area Planning Council (lead); cities of Brockton, Chicopee, Fall River, Lawrence, Lowell, Malden and Westfield
• Hamilton-Wenham Regional Department of Public Facilities and Infrastructure ($90,000)
Towns of Wenham (lead) and Hamilton; Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District
• Regional Forestry Equipment Cooperative ($193,675)
Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (lead); towns of Auburn, Barre, Hubbardston, Oakham, Paxton and Rutland
• Regional Recycling of Agricultural Plastics and Fuel Pellet Bags ($60,950)
Franklin County Solid Waste District
• Merrimack Valley Stormwater Collaborative ($145,000)
Merrimack Valley Regional Planning Commission (lead); cities of Amesbury, Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen and Newburyport; towns of Andover, Boxford, Georgetown, Groveland, Merrimac, Newbury, North Andover, Rowley, Salisbury and West Newbury
• Multi-Board Purchasing Program/Shared Articulation List ($56,400)
Blackstone Valley Regional School District (lead); Mendon-Upton Regional School District; town of Upton
• Neponset Valley Regional Stormwater Collaborative ($130,366)
Metropolitan Area Planning Council (lead); towns of Canton, Dedham, Medfield, Milton, Norwood, Randolph, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole and Westwood
• Natick Soldier Services Joint Services Project ($11,000)
Town of Natick
• Northern Middlesex Stormwater Collaborative Expansion ($81,000)
Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (lead); city of Lowell; towns of Billerica, Burlington, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Littleton, Pepperell, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, Westford and Wilmington
• Regionalizing Municipal Stormwater Management in Southeastern Massachusetts ($80,000)
Towns of Mansfield (lead), Abington, Bridgewater, Canton, East Bridgewater, Easton, Foxborough, Middleborough, North Attleborough, Norton, Plainville, Raynham, Sharon, Stoughton, West Bridgewater and Wrentham; cities of Brockton and Taunton
 
Information Technology
• Co-location of Appraisal System with Amherst and Pelham ($25,000)
City of West Springfield (lead); towns of Amherst and Pelham
• Co-location of Financial Management Software ($180,000)
Town of Amherst (lead); city of Northampton
• Connecting the Dots: Public Access, Cloud Accounting and Security ($128,000)
Town of Washington (lead); members of the Community Software Consortium
• Enhancement and Expansion of Commonwealth Connect ($80,000)
Metropolitan Area Planning Council (lead); city of Boston
• Hampshire Cloud ($105,000)
Hampshire Council of Governments (lead); towns of Amherst, Chesterfield, Hadley, Rowe and Westhampton
• Municipal Open Checkbook System ($180,000)
Cities of Woburn (lead), Chelsea, Chicopee and Revere; town of Brookline
• Open Checkbook ($4,800)
City of West Springfield
• 4-town GIS Mapping Project ($20,000)
Towns of Franklin (lead), Norfolk, Plainville and Wrentham
 
Public Health
• Hampden County Shared Public Health Nurse Assistance Program ($110,000)
Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (lead); city of West Springfield; towns of Blandford, East Longmeadow, Granville, Montgomery, Palmer, Southwick and Tolland
• Massachusetts Tick-Borne Disease Network ($111,300)
Towns of Bedford (lead), Acton, Barnstable, Buckland, Brewster, Bourne, Carlisle, Charlemont, Chatham Concord, Conway, Deerfield, Dennis, Eastham, Falmouth, Gill, Harwich, Hawley, Heath, Leyden, Lincoln, Monroe, Mashpee, Orleans, Nantucket Provincetown, Sandwich, Shelburne, Truro, Wellfleet, Winchester and Yarmouth
• Public Health Nursing Program, Year 3 Expansion ($47,042)
Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (lead); city of North Adams; towns of Adams, Alford, Becket, Clarksburg, Dalton, Egremont, Florida, Great Barrington, Hancock, Lanesborough, Mount Washington, New Marlborough, Peru, Richmond, Sandisfield, Savoy, Sheffield, Washington, West Stockbridge, Williamstown and Windsor
 
Public Safety
• Cloud-Based Visual Access for First Responders ($13,604)
Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical School District (lead); town of Palmer
• Eastern Hampshire District Criminal Intelligence Equipment Sharing ($18,000)
Towns of Amherst (lead), Belchertown and Pelham
• Ensuring Quality Police Data ($80,000)
Cities of Chelsea (lead), Everett, and Revere
• FIRE Response ($79,557)
Franklin Regional Council of Governments (lead); towns of Ashfield, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Gill, Heath, Leverett, Leyden, New Salem, Northfield, Shutesbury, Sunderland, Warwick and Wendell
• North Quabbin Regional Animal Control Program ($91,257)
Franklin Regional Council of Governments; towns of Athol, Orange, Petersham and Royalston
• Northwestern District Anti-Crime Task Force Expansion ($71,954)
Franklin Regional Council of Governments (lead); cities of Easthampton, Greenfield and Northampton; towns of Athol, Amherst, Belchertown, Deerfield, Erving, Montague, Orange, Southampton and Ware
• South County Emergency Management Services ($160,620)
Towns of Deerfield (lead), Sunderland and Whatley
 
Transportation
• Expansion of Partners and Services Provided by CrossTown Connect ($40,000)
Towns of Acton (lead), Boxborough, Concord, Littleton, Maynard, Stow and Westford
• MetroWest Moves Regional Complete Streets Prioritization ($75,500)
Towns of Hudson (lead) and Framingham; city of Marlborough
• Middlesex 3 Coalition–Transportation Coordination ($147,800)
Towns of Billerica (lead), Burlington, Bedford and Chelmsford; city of Lowell