A new state program is connecting leaders in 10 rural Maine towns to the resources and funding required to get much needed municipal projects off the ground.
Late last year nonprofit GrowSmart Maine launched the Building Community Strength program after securing a $304,636 grant from the USDA Rural Development Initiative and the American Farmland Trust.
It comes at a time when many rural towns are facing problems with affordable housing, farmland protection, downtown revitalization and open space planning.
Spanning rural Maine towns in counties from Oxford to Aroostook, the program aims to help town leaders with limited staff and money identify projects, develop strategic plans, and get funding.
The program’s goal is not to tell communities what to do, but rather connect them to expertise and funding, said Harald Bredesen, GrowSmart Maine program director.
“For a small community, in particular, you need to know who to contact if you have an issue and people meeting face to face to set up relationships is the value of this program,” he said.
The first cohort, representing Calais, Danforth, Enfield, Houlton, Machias, Mexico, Presque Isle, Roque Bluffs, Skowhegan and Van Buren, initially gathered this spring in Bangor for a multi-day workshop on the fundamentals of municipal planning, said Bredesen.
“There is quite a web of things we have become involved in stemming from the GrowSmart program” said Houlton Code Enforcement Officer Ben Torres. “It’s really been a tremendous opportunity for us and will be good for the town in the long run.”
GrowSmart Maine contacted Houlton officials about a year-and-a-half ago to see if they wanted to get involved in the Building Community Strength program, and it is already opening grant opportunities, Ketch said.
Since the initial spring meeting, the program has connected Houlton with a new $44,000 Community Facilities Technical Assistance Grant announced this week during the GrowSmart Maine Summit in Waterville by USDA Maine State Director Rhiannon Hampson.
The grant, awarded to GrowSmart, will help the Aroostook County town put together a viable plan and project for a municipal facility. There has been talk of building a new jail, and the grant can help them explore that, Ketch said.
The other Houlton funding project spurred from the Building Community Strength initiative is still in development. It ties to GrowSmart Maine’s Community Resilience Partnership, a program that connects partners to energy efficiency-related funding and explores the town’s ability to withstand the effects of climate change such as extreme weather, flooding and drought.
“They have partnered us with planners, the Musson Group, to give us technical assistance,” said Nancy Ketch, Houlton director of community development. “And they are working to connect us with resources for funding.”
Additionally, Mexico was selected last week for Community Facilities Disaster funding to help build a new fire station to replace a structure damaged in severe flooding last year.
Trainees in the three-year program include town managers, code enforcement officers, community planners and directors of community development.
In five group workshop sessions as well as individual meetings, the trainees will tackle such issues as climate resilience, economic development, farm viability and farmland protection, affordable housing, and equitable and inclusive community development, said Bredesen.
The Bangor session focused on the fundamentals of community planning, community planning tools and developing a comprehensive or working plan for municipalities. In September, the group met in Machias and focused on affordable housing, farmland protection and open space planning. The next session will be on downtown revitalization.
During the first session, Ketch described a sort of speed dating experience with participants getting a quick opportunity to meet with state and federal officials to outline their priorities in one-on-one conversations.
In addition to the workshops, the participants each must create a community specific project that uses skills from the training workshops to make tangible changes in the community, Bredesen said.
“With turnover in town leadership, what happens is the town leaders don’t know what we could be doing for them with the kind of historic funding that’s been available,” Hampson said. “I just wanted to be able to have a broader reach.”
Rural Maine’s needs are holistic. If someone has a small business, they don’t just need tractor fuel, they also need affordable housing to hire employees and water treatment facilities for example, she added.
“USDA Rural Development is employing one of our best assets – our partners – to create opportunities for communities like Houlton to build and implement a vision for their future,” Hampson said.
