Lynnfield Awarded $1.6 Million State MVP Grant

Local efforts to preserve the Richardson Green property as open space took a major step forward this week as the Baker-Polito Administration announced that Lynnfield has been awarded a $1.6 million Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) grant.

Designated an MVP Community in 2020, the award of this grant will be used to implement a priority action to enhance climate resilience, as identified through Lynnfield’s MVP planning process. Climate resilience is recognized as the ability of a community to address the needs of its built, social and natural environment in order to anticipate, cope with and rebound stronger from events and trends related to climate change.

House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading) and Senator Brendan P. Crighton (D-Lynn) joined with local officials in hailing the grant award, which was announced on August 31. The grant, which totals $1,638,750, will provide the town with more than half of the $2.7 million required to purchase the Richardson Green parcel should Lynnfield exercise its right of first refusal under state law.

Created as part of a 2017 Executive Order issued by Governor Charlie Baker, the MVP program provides communities with funding and technical support to identify climate hazards, develop strategies to improve resilience, and implement priority actions to adapt to climate change.

Richardson Green is currently under a Purchase and Sale Agreement with a private developer who plans to build residential housing at the site. The roughly 20-acre property is located adjacent to over 500 acres of undeveloped land owned by the Lynnfield Center Water District and the Lynnfield Conservation Commission for water supply protection.

One of the biggest concerns about the proposed development is that it would require the removal of over 3,200 trees, which would significantly reduce the natural sequestration of carbon dioxide. There are also concerns about how the project would impact the Ipswich River Watershed, which is already water-stressed and is projected to see even more reduced flows over the next 20 years due to anticipated population increases and precipitation changes caused by climate change, according to the 2018 Ipswich Basin Water Management Act Planning Grant Report.

“This land is critical to protecting Lynnfield’s water supply, but those protections would be seriously compromised by the proposed housing development,” said Representative Jones. “This MVP grant is a testament to the many dedicated individuals who have been working tirelessly at the local level to ensure that Richardson Green is maintained as open space in perpetuity.”

“We thank Representative Jones for his constant advocacy for Lynnfield and this grant most certainly puts the town in an advantageous position as we consider the options before us,” said Select Board Chairman Dick Dalton.

As part of their advocacy efforts in support of Lynnfield’s MVP grant application, Jones’ and Crighton’s offices helped organize and participated in a May 18 site visit with Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen A. Theoharides. They were accompanied by local officials and representatives of the Ipswich River Watershed Association and Greenbelt who have been working to preserve the property.

A recent town-wide survey found that more than 80% of respondents believe it is “very important” for the Richardson Green site to remain an undeveloped forested conservation land.

Nearly $21 million in MVP grants were awarded on August 31, including $397,795 in planning grants provided to 16 communities, and an additional $20,585,193 in action grants awarded to 66 communities, including Lynnfield. Lynnfield’s grant was the third-largest to be awarded in the latest round of funding.

Since its creation in 2017, more than $65 million in municipal grants have been awarded through the MVP program.