The nonprofit Land Information Access Association (LIAA) is collaborating with coastal communities in Michigan to develop master plan content that will contribute to greater coastal and community-wide resilience. These planning efforts focus on ways to build a better and more reliable local economy, manage social and environmental changes, respond to a changing climate with more severe storms, and respond and adapt to dynamic changes in Great Lakes water levels.
LIAA has years of experience helping communities chart a path towards a more resilient future. The mission of this current service grant is to help coastal municipalities collect and analyze data related to environmental, coastal, economic and social sustainability; facilitate stakeholder meetings to identify action strategies to address sustainability issues, and provide updated municipal planning tools and documents. This matching grant program provides a flexible set of deliverables to assist localities at any stage of the planning process.
There are five key requirements for participation in the Coastal Community Resilience Matching Grant program:
- The municipality(ies) must be located on a Great Lake coastline.
- The municipality(ies) must be committed to adopting the project’s deliverables into its Master Plan (or if the community does not have a Master Plan, to adopt the Master Plan drafted during this effort).
- The municipality(ies) must provide a direct contact (elected, appointed or staff) to assist in developing the project during the specified timeframe.
- The municipality(ies) must commit to providing half the cost of the services provided by LIAA (a 1:1 cash match).
- Projects must be completed by December 2020.
For full information, criteria and to apply for the 2020 Coastal Community Resilience Matching Grants, visit the website here.
Herasanna Richards is a legislative associate handling energy, environmental, elections, and external municipal services for the League. She can be reached at hrichards@mml.org or 517-908-0309.