MCOG Monthly Newsletter

In mid fall, MCOG began the implementation of its Housing Opportunity Partnership grant from the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development. The project is broken up into three service areas that are driven by the Labor Market Centers (Brunswick/Bath/Sagadahoc or “Five Rivers”; Rockland/Knox County; and Belfast/Waldo County). Each subregion has a particular focus based on the activities of MCOG member communities, but the primary focus is to understand the housing needs of each area and the action that must be taken to address those demands. As part of that project, a Housing Gaps Analysis has been constructed (click here) for the MCOG region. Three subregional teams will be working on further describing those needs and the options to address them. Stay tuned!

As part of MCOG's Strategic Plan, the region must update the Midcoast Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Plan (required by the Federal Economic Development Administration; EDA). The CEDS process, necessary for key projects to be eligible for federal funding, will identify a broad array of infrastructure needs to meet the vision, goals, and guiding principles for economic investment in the Midcoast region.

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CEDS is an opportunity to set goals and objectives together as a region – and to accomplish more together than we can apart. It is important as a way to leverage each other’s efforts. It also is a way to help attract federal grant funds by identifying high priority investments needed for the region.

Find out more at our page here.

It's that magical time of year when MCOG partners with the Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) to participate in bulk purchasing!

This year is different from previous years for a few reasons:

1. Starting today, estimate need forms will be open for all products and services at the same time. While the due dates and bid dates will still stagger, communities may submit all their estimated needs starting today.

    

2. Communities are no longer charged for any fee for participating in the bid program.

    

3. Catch basin cleaning and road striping contracts are for three years, but communities may submit estimated needs for as many (or as few) years as they like, depending on existing contracts/obligations.

Below is the table showing the due dates for each estimated need, proposals from vendors, and the anticipated date of the awards. By clicking the name of the product/service below, members will have the ability to fill out their estimated need forms for each product/service.

We should also note that this is a large region that is being serviced through this program. Vendors may be unable to provide products and services to the entire region. 

We are pleased to announce that MCOG has drawn down over $845,000 of our $900,000 funding from our federal earmark request. We are also thrilled to announce that we have completed reimbursement for all initial requests made by our law enforcement agencies throughout the Midcoast region. Thanks to this program, funding has gone to fourteen different communities and counties that were in need of updating their day-to-day equipment to help service their areas. We are reaching out to communities that have had requests that were unable to be funded through our first round and did not receive a large amount of funding from the initial drawdown.

MCOG, LCRPC, and HCPC are partnering to host two two-hour workshops in the first week of February that will include Congressional delegation staff members from the offices of Senator Collins, Senator King, Representative Pingree, and Representative Golden. The purpose of these workshops will be to discuss the Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) and Community Project Funding (CPF) as well as best practices for interested applicants. These workshops are highly advised for municipal leaders and nonprofit organizations. Both workshops will have options to attend in-person and remotely, and both meetings will be recorded for those who are unable to attend either meeting.

Please note that our guest speakers will be able to answer questions about previous years processes, eligibility guidelines, and best practices. However, guest speakers may not be able to speak to this coming year's process as work continues to be conducted in Washington D.C. on the current year’s appropriations bills.

We ask that interested parties RSVP by emailing to at least one of the individuals below, especially if they plan to attend one of the workshops in-person:

Maxwell Johnstone (Midcoast Council of Governments): mjohnstone@midcoastcog.com

Emily Rabbe (Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission): erabbe@lcrpc.org

Averi Varney (Hancock County Planning Commission): avarney@hcpcme.org

The first workshop will be held on February 7, 2024, at the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission office at 297 Bath Road in Wiscasset starting at 2:00pm. Click here to attend via zoom.

The second workshop will be held on February 8, 2024, at the Searsport Town Hall at 1 Union Street starting at 6:00pm. Click here to attend via zoom.

Below are links to each of the Maine Congressional delegation offices, with examples of projects they have supported through the federal appropriations process in previous years:

Senator Collins: FY 2024 Appropriations Requests and Congressionally Directed Spending | About the Committee | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations

Senator King: Investing in Maine (senate.gov) and https://www.king.senate.gov/cds

Representative Golden: Community Project Funding - Requested Projects | Representative Jared Golden (house.gov)

Representative Pingree: Community Project Funding | U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree (house.gov)

On December 21, 2023, Max Johnstone led a Basics of Municipal Tax Increment Financing workshop in the Town of Warren. This workshop covered the history, procedure, and changes to the State's Tax Increment Financing program. If you were unable to attend, we recorded the meeting and have it available to view here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rplXhFXsao

On January 4, 2024, Adi Philson hosted a Municipal Stream Crossing Grant Workshop in the Town of Searsmont. Guest speakers included Christian Fox (The Nature Conservancy) and Sarah Haggerty (Maine Audubon Society). Applications for this grant are due on January 19, 2024. If you were unable to attend, the recording of the meeting is available to view here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BFOnvbd73c

On December 19, MCOG closed and disbursed a new loan to a land-based aquaculture business in Sagadahoc County. The $75,000 loan was used to fund the down payment towards real estate acquisition. MCOG’s loan leveraged $519,000 in bank and other project financing.