AUGUSTA, Maine — More money is headed for Maine towns, aimed at shoring up infrastructure against the effects of climate change.
The Mills administration announced Tuesday $20 million in federal relief funds are being allocated to 13 cities and towns that requested help with projects like outdated sewage lines and culverts that are too small to deal with increased storm surges due to climate impacts.
Maine Department Transportation Chief Engineer Joyce Taylor helped guide the funding. She says she's proud the money is not just going to the coastal communities one might think about when they think of rising water.
"People tend to always talk about sea level rise," Taylor said. "But they forget about these storms we're having inland, and how they can also wipe out culverts and roads and bridges."
Tim Curtis is Madison's town manager, where they're due to receive more than $800,000. He showed NEWS CENTER Maine the sheriff's office and a stretch of downtown that are in frequent danger of flooding. That piece of town is in a low spot, he explained, and culverts in the area aren't equipped to handle extreme rain storms.
Madison and nearby Anson, Curtis says, have needed upgrades to their drainage systems for years, but they had to be put off to make room for other projects.
"We had lots of infrastructure projects that were put on hold while we had to deal with the economic ramifications of losing the mill," Curtis said, referring to the Madison Paper Industries mill closure in 2016. "So, it was really after COVID that we got things kind of settled back down."
He said he was also thrilled when he heard about the anticipated funds because town leadership wanted to avoid raising taxes to pay for the needed projects.
The funding is part of the federal American Rescue Plan, which is then distributed under the Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan, passed by the Maine state legislature and allocated by the governor's office.