Gouldsboro’s Coastal Resilience Committee met this past Monday, January 8, to work on two requests for funds to reduce sea-level rise and storm surge vulnerabilities in the village of Corea and along Rt. 195 (Corea Road) at Sand Cove. The support the committee will apply for is different from emergency funds available to repair damages from this week’s storm. What the Coastal Resilience Committee is looking for is support to develop long-term solutions.
The FB Environmental report on Gouldsboro’s climate vulnerabilities identified Corea Village and Corea Road at Sand Cove Beach as places that are highly vulnerable to coastal flooding that could result in large social and economic impacts. If a storm makes Corea Road impassable at its low point near Sand Cove Beach, everyone living in Corea and in the Paul Bunyan subdivision (more than 200 people year-around and about twice that many in the summer) would be isolated, cut off from emergency services and without land transportation to and from Corea.
Since the January 8 meeting, as everyone here knows, the powerful storm on January 10 caused extraordinary damage all along Gouldsboro’s coast and also in neighboring communities. Consistent with FB Environmental report, Corea Harbor and the village surrounding it were hit hard. (See the associated photo story.) Waves, elevated by storm surge and driven by high winds, drove ice and debris onto Corea Road in the Sand Cove Beach area (see the photo above).
Gouldsboro has two near-term opportunities to apply for funds that the town can use to begin work toward making these two areas less vulnerable to damage from big storms. One potential source of support is the Maine Infrastructure Adaptation Fund (MIAF) managed by the Maine Department of Transportation. Gouldsboro can apply for up to $50,000 for scoping and design work aimed at adapting “critical infrastructure to reduce vulnerability to climate change.” The deadline for this application is February 2, 2024.
The other near-term funding opportunity is through Community Action Grants that are available to towns that have recently joined the Community Resilience Partnership Program. Gouldsboro received notice of its membership on September 21, 2023. The application deadline for this grant is March 29, 2024.
The Coastal Resilience Committee will meet again on Monday, February 5, at 5 PM at the Town Office. The meetings are open to the public.
