2025 MARPA Conference
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Thank you for joining us at this year’s Statewide Municipal Partnerships Conference co-hosted by the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies (MARPA) and the Division of Local Services (DLS).
I am extremely grateful to Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll for offering keynote remarks that highlighted the importance of local and regional work, especially right now.
Secretary Matthew Gorzkowicz (ANF), Secretary Rebecca Tepper (EEA), Secretary Kiame Mahaniah (HHS), and Secretary Edward Augustus (EOHLC) spoke on our keynote panel and provided insights into the ways the Commonwealth is supporting municipalities and Regional Planning Agencies (RPAs) during this unprecedented time.
I want to thank all our panelists and moderators who shared their expertise on everything from technical assistance to energy siting, to first/last mile solutions, and housing and resiliency tools. If you missed a breakout or arrived late, you can find a summary of the event, links to presentation slides, and pictures from the conference by reading the blog post, Recapping the MARPA-DLS Conference.
Finally, I’d like to encourage you to offer your support for H.56, An Act empowering municipalities and local governments, also known as the Municipal Empowerment Act. The bill provides municipalities with tools to be more efficient and effective. You can read the full letter and sign on at mapc.ma/MEASignOn.
We hope you will join us again next year at the conference and if you have any suggestions for ways we can improve the event, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
Thank you again for joining us and I look forward to continuing the conversation with all of you.
Best,
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Lizzi Weyant
Executive Director
MAPC
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2024 MARPA Conference
On October 8th, 2024, the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies and the Division of Local Services for the Statewide Municipal Partnerships conference. Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll offered remarks to keynote the conference and Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Ed Augustus, Secretary for Administration and Finance Matt Gorzkowicz, Secretary of Technology Services and Security Jason Snyder, and MassDOT Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt joined to offer brief remarks as well. Breakout sessions were later facilitated by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, the Execute Office of Economic Development, the Healey-Driscoll administration, and MAPC.
Read more from MAPC – ‘2024 MARPA-DLS Conference Highlights Statewide Opportunities, Strengths‘.
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Rural Policy Plan for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
The Rural Policy Plan for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Prepared by the Rural Policy Advisory Commission, is intended to illustrate the unique attributes and challenges faced by rural communities, inform policy makers of existing best practices and identify a series of recommendations to be explored and implemented under a proposed new Office of Rural Policy
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21st Century Municipalities:
Challenges & Opportunities
Join Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito and members from all the Massachusetts Regional Planning Agencies at the 2019 Annual Statewide Conference for Municipal Officials and Staff, co-hosted by the Division of Local Services. You will learn about a range of key subject areas facing
communities today, including:
- Climate Resiliency
- New Challenges of Running A Municipality
- Intergenerational Opportunities: Becoming an Age
- Friendly Community
- Cybersecurity
- Regionalization of Services
To register, click here.
For the email invite, click here.
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MassDOT has released the Congestion in the Commonwealth Report to the Governor, 2019
To view the report, click here.
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East-West Passenger Rail Study is underway
To view documents and updates on the project, click here.
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MassDOT releases its 2020-2024 Capital Improvement Program for Public Review and Comment
MassDOT is preparing the Commonwealth’s next five-year capital spending plan for transportation investments to be programmed in 2020-2024. The Capital Investment Plan (CIP) determines how MassDOT prioritizes and funds its investments, covering all transportation projects – everything from highway and municipal projects to regional airports, rail and transit – including the MBTA and Regional Transit Authorities as well as bicycle and pedestrian projects across the Commonwealth.
MassDOT will be holding twelve public meetings on the CIP in locations across the Commonwealth. These meetings will be scheduled between Monday, May 21, 2019 and Thursday, June 6, 2019. Please visit MassDOT’s CIP site at
www.mass.gov/cip to view the CIP public meeting schedule and to obtain additional information.
posted on April 22, 2019
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Learn About Preparing Facilities and Communities for Severe Weather
Heat waves, flooding, intense storms, power outages and other climate change weather events pose a significant threat to communities where large toxic chemical users reside when critical infrastructure and services fail or are damaged.
To help educate the public about these issues, the Massachusetts Office of Technical Assistance and Training will offer a one-hour webinar on Wednesday, May 1, 2019, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Speakers:
- Tiffany Skogstrom of the Massachusetts Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) will demonstrate an online mapping tool to identify toxics users in relation to climate change-related vulnerability factors such as flood, hurricane, and environmental justice zones.
- Rick Ferreira of the Taunton Emergency Management agency will discuss the importance and value of building strong community partnerships between businesses and local government as part of emergency preparedness planning.
Visit the MA Office of Technical Assistance and Technology webpage to learn more about this topic and/or click here to register for the webinar.
posted on April 8, 2019
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posted on April 8, 2019
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Pioneer Valley Planning Commission announces candidate search for new Executive Director
Tim Brennan, the longtime Executive Director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC), announced in April 2018 that he would be retiring in 2019 after over forty-five years of service at PVPC. His contributions to PVPC, and to all of the RPAs in his leadership role with MARPA, are a testament to his professional commitments and the positive impact that he has had in the planning profession in Massachusetts and beyond.
Accordingly, PVPC has posted Tim’s position and is now conducting a candidate search.
Executive Director Position Ad_Web Posting_Final-1.31.19
For more information about this PVPC position and the application process, please go to www.pvpc.org/EDSearch to gain access to:
- Application Process and Instructions
- Executive Director Job Description
- Executive Director Position Profile
- PVPC Agency Organizational Chart
posted on February 6, 2018
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MassDOT Releases Updated Strategic Highway Safety Plan
MassDOT developed the initial 2006 Massachusetts SHSP in a cooperative process with Federal, State, local, private, and public sector safety stakeholders. The SHSP, and its new 2018 Update, is a data-driven, strategic plan that integrates the four E’s: engineering, education, enforcement and emergency medical services (EMS).
You can download the Plan here or on the UMass Transportation Center website at http://www.umasstransportationcenter.org/images/umtc/UMassSafe/MA_SHSP_2018_v5%20-%20low%20res.pdf
For questions or more information about the Commonwealth’s Strategic Highway Safety Program, contact Bonnie Polin, MassDOT Highway Safety Program Manager, at (857) 368-9636 or by email at http://bonnie.polin@state.ma.us.
posted 1/26/19
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New Future of Transportation Report Released
The Commonwealth’s Commission on the Future of Transportation, established by Governor Baker per Executive Order No. 579 (January 2018), issued its final report on December 14, 2018. The Commission’s report details the Commonwealth’s projected transportation needs and challenges between 2020 and 2040.
The report considers complex factors affecting the future of transportation such as increasing electrification of the Commonwealth’s transportation system, preparing transportation infrastructure for climate change and the intersection of land use, housing and transportation policies.
The final report consists of two volumes, which are available at https://www.mass.gov/lists/choices-for-stewardship-recommendations-to-meet-the-transportation-future
posted 1/26/19
