Grantee: City of Bridgeport
Contractor: GEI Consultants, Inc. Award Amount: $39,448
The City of Bridgeport will use planning assistance to develop a Natural Resource and Wildlife Inventory (NRWI) Report to strengthen local understanding, coordination, and planning around the city’s environmental assets. While Bridgeport has produced many valuable plans and studies addressing environmental needs, these efforts have often been fragmented and have not fully incorporated climate resilience. This project will synthesize existing information across conservation, sustainability, and resilience initiatives, while identifying gaps and opportunities for improvement. Building on this synthesis, a comprehensive NRWI will catalog the city’s natural resources, habitats, and wildlife, providing maps and detailed descriptions to facilitate informed decision-making. The NRWI Report will outline strategies and protocols for integrating ecosystem and conservation priorities into municipal planning, zoning, and development processes. It will also identify priority areas for ecological restoration and opportunities for nature-based solutions that enhance community resilience. In this way, the report will serve as a tool for coordination across City departments and partners, supporting long-term sustainability and accelerating the implementation of conservation-focused resilience projects that benefit Bridgeport’s residents and environment.
Grantee: Neighborhood Housing Service of New Haven
Contractor: TPA Design Group Award Amount: $35,000
Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of New Haven will use this support to develop a strategic plan for a Stormwater Management Counseling Program to help Connecticut residents in Long Island Sound coastal communities reduce stormwater runoff and related flooding risks. Building on NHS’s existing HomeEnergy ConneCT energy efficiency counseling program, the project will assess gaps and opportunities, design systems, plan outreach, and explore partnerships that could facilitate a sustainable program. Efforts will focus on communities within or partially within the Long Island Sound coastal boundary that face heightened flooding challenges due to combined sewer overflow systems and other stressors (e.g., Bridgeport and New Haven, and potentially Norwalk and Norwich). The resulting strategic plan will outline an implementation path for a program that empowers residents to adopt green infrastructure practices while enhancing the region’s resilience.
Grantee: PT Partners
Contractor: TPA Design Group Award Amount: $38,500
PT Partners, a resident-led grassroots organization serving Bridgeport’s public housing communities, will develop an Environmental Resilience Plan to address pressing environmental challenges in and around the PT Barnum Apartments. Building on previous planning efforts—including a $17 million greenway project proposal developed with EPA Community Resilience Technical Assistance—this initiative will help PT Partners strengthen and refine its strategies to better compete for funding and advance community-driven resilience solutions. The project will engage residents, local government agencies, and nonprofit partners to co-develop a comprehensive plan that responds to issues such as flooding, industrial activities, limited green space, and urban heat. Support will include reviewing past proposals, identifying community priorities, and researching successful models of community-led resilience. The resulting plan will outline clear goals, actionable strategies, and conceptual designs for two to three priority projects, complete with draft budgets and potential funding sources.
Grantee: Town of Groton
Contractor: SLR International CorporationAward Amount: $101,300
The Town of Groton sought planning assistance to develop and pilot acomprehensive green infrastructure community engagement strategy in the Downtown Mystic portion of the Town. As recommended in the 2024 Downtown Mystic Resiliency and Sustainability Plan, green infrastructure education and outreach will primarily be conducted with private landowners in the 44 acres of land that drain into the Pearl Street stormwater system. The stormwater authority evaluation will focus on the portion of Groton within the Mystic River watershed. There are two sub-watersheds within this area, and the evaluation will help determine whether best management practices (BMPs) and a stormwater authority should be pursued in one or both of them. In summary, the intent of the report’s recommendations will be to reduce the amount of stormwater flowing into Pearl Street by retaining it in the upper, largely residential watershed, while engaging private landowners in green infrastructure strategies and evaluating the potential for BMPs and a stormwater authority within the Mystic River watershed.
Grantee: Town of Stonington
Contractor: Resilient Land and Water LLCAward Amount: $53,800
The Town of Stonington sought planning assistance to develop a townwide Sustainability and Resilience Plan that consolidates existing resilience projects, identifies data gaps through community engagement, and prioritizes projects for implementation. The Sustainability and Resilience Plan will help the town better understand its current conditions and future risks regarding sea level rise, severe storms, stormwater management, and tideland preservation. It will also provide a framework for addressing each concern with actionable solutions, recommended funding sources to pursue, timelines, and estimated project costs.
Read descriptions of all 14 projects totaling $909,121 in planning support here.
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