Residents, businesses, and surrounding community members are invited to provide input on the Town of Goshen Hazard Mitigation Plan and Unpaved Roads Project at a public listening session on December 10, 2024, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Goshen Town Hall, located at 42 Main Street, Goshen. Dinner will be provided. Attendees will learn about what the Town is doing to prepare for natural hazards and the impacts of climate change, including improving the resiliency of dirt roads. They will have an opportunity to provide feedback on their experiences with hazards in Goshen, and in particular where there are unpaved road issues. Municipal officials and staff from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) will be available to answer questions and respond to input about these projects. The purpose of the Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) is to assess Goshen’s risks from natural hazards and climate change impacts, and to provide an action plan to reduce the Town’s vulnerabilities. The Hazard Mitigation Plan is being completed by the Town with assistance from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) and is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Upon completion, the plan will be submitted to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and FEMA for review and approval. A FEMA‐approved HMP makes the community eligible for federal and state mitigation grant funding.
The Western Massachusetts Unpaved Roads Project is a collaborative effort between the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC), the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC), and the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) as well as the Towns of Lanesborough, Goshen, Blandford, and Shutesbury. With climate change, municipalities are experiencing more unpaved road failures due to the increased intensity of precipitation events. This project will further develop FRCOG’s new Dirt Road Toolkit which allows municipal staff to assess their vulnerable unpaved roads, determine which best practices are recommended to increase their climate resiliency and how to install these best practices using existing resources. The Toolkit will be field tested in the partnering municipalities.
This project is funded by the Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs, Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program.
For more information about this event, please contact PVPC’s Mimi Kaplan at mkaplan@pvpc.org or (413) 781‐6045.
Go to the Goshen DRAFT Hazard Mitigation Plan Update 2024 to view, download or print the full report.