St. Michaels Awarded 2 Grants – Climate Change/Sea Level Rise Commission Encouraging Community Participation
The Town of St. Michaels was recently awarded two Maryland Department of Natural Resources grants. The Town Commissioners and Climate Change/Sea Level Rise Commission (CC/SLRC) will now move forward to implement the grants.
The first grant, “Resiliency Through Restoration: St. Michaels West Harbor Road/East Chew Avenue Flood Mitigation Feasibility Assessment and Conceptual Design” is a study which will develop proposed mitigation strategies for the projected stormwater flooding and sea level rise in this area by 2050. The study will include a conceptual design considering the West Harbor Road and East Chew Avenue roadways, adjacent residences, hotel, Town boat slips, boat ramps and associated parking.
The second grant, “St. Michaels San Domingo Creek and Westside Stormwater and Harbor Infrastructure Assessment and Flood Mitigation Study” is to complete a tidal, sea level rise and stormwater assessment which identifies at risk Infrastructure, community assets, and properties on the San Domingo watershed side of our Town and develop proposed mitigation strategies.
Each of these grants will have a formal kickoff in early 2023, with drafts and final reports by the end of the year. The CC/SLRC wishes to encourage Town participation, so residents are aware of project meetings and have an opportunity to provide input and to comment on proposed strategies and concept designs. The dates for these meetings are as follows: West Harbor Road/East Chew Avenue kickoff will be held on January 19, 2023, beginning at 3:00p.m. and the San Domingo Creek and Westside Stormwater and Harbor will be on January 12, 2023, at the 5:00p.m. CC/SLRC meeting. See the Town website for further details.
As such, the CC/SLRC would like to develop a contact list of residents and businesses who would like to be kept aware of meetings and project status. If you would like to be contacted for one or both projects, please send your contact information and specify which project(s) you are interested in, to Kris Kakabar at info@stmichaelsmd.gov.
Upcoming Meetings:
Meetings to be held at the Boy Scout Cabin, 407 St. Mary’s Square, St. Michaels unless listed otherwise.
January 19, 2023 – 3:00p.m. – Special CC/SLRC meeting for the kickoff of the “Resiliency Through Restoration: St. Michaels West Harbor Road/East Chew Avenue Flood Mitigation Feasibility Assessment and Conceptual Design” Grant.
January 19, 2023 – 11:00a.m. – St. Michaels Floodwatch Lunch and Learn at the Talbot county Free Library – St. Michaels Branch, 106 Fremont Street, enter via the Conner Street entrance.
January 12, 2023 – 5:00p.m. – During the CC/SLRC meeting, they will have the kickoff of the “St. Michaels San Domingo Creek and Westside Stormwater and Harbor Infrastructure Assessment and Flood Mitigation Study” Grant.
Harbor and Stormwater Infrastructure Study
To read the study click HERE.
The Town of St. Michaels, MD received a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Grant through the State of Maryland Community Resilience Program to perform an analysis of the St. Michaels harbor and stormwater infrastructure, while considering projected sea level rise over the next thirty years. The study’s objective was to develop viable, cost efficient strategies to increase the town’s resiliency relative to both rainfall and tidal induced flooding. Eight areas of study were determined, and six flooding and sea-level rise projection maps were created as part of the study scope of work. The critical study areas were evaluated within these flooding and sea-level rise scenarios to evaluate risk and define future City mitigation and adaptation efforts. Importantly, this report outlines the Next Steps our Town might take to prepare for and put plans in place to begin these mitigation efforts. The report was prepared by George, Miles & Buhr, LLC.
St. Michaels Floodwatch
The Climate/Change/Sea Level Rise Commission is pleased to present St. Michaels Floodwatch, an interactive tool to help residents and visitors to our town understand the effect that sea level rise and nuisance flooding will have over the next 30 years. On the Floodwatch site, you can view projections of what chronic nuisance flooding is projected to look like by 2050, overlaid on satellite images of the town and throughout Talbot County. You can also view photographs of recent flooding events in critical areas around town.
St. Michaels Floodwatch: http://stmichaelsfloodwatch.com/.
Residents are also invited to submit their own images of local flooding through the Maryland MyCoast app, which can be accessed here: https://mycoast.org/md.
Andrew Thaler, from the Climate Change/Sea Level Rise Commission, and Kate Vogel, from Maryland DNR, will present both the Floodwatch project and MyCoast app during a Lunch and Learn session at the St. Michaels Library at 11a.m. on January 19, 2023.
The Town support staff for the following appointed Town body: Climate Change/Sea Level Rise Commission.
Telephone: 410-745-9535
Vacant | Planning and Zoning Officer | ext. 112 | @stmichaelsmd.gov |
Eric Knapp | Special Project Manager/Codes Compliance Officer | ext. 119 | eknapp@stmichaelsmd.gov |
Kris Kakabar | Customer Services Representative | ext. 110 | kkakabar@stmichaelsmd.gov |
Resources:
Harbor and Stormwater Infrastructure Study: CLICK HERE.
MyCoast app: https://mycoast.org/md.
St. Michaels Floodwatch: http://stmichaelsfloodwatch.com/.