The MMA Nominating Committee is seeking interested candidates to serve on the MMA Executive Committee in 2024. The Executive Committee is the Association’s corporate board of directors, and has overall governance and fiduciary responsibility for MMA, including its annual operating budget and custody of its assets.  

Maine Audubon is conducting Stream Smart workshops at the Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft on April 25 and Boothbay Oakpoint Farm of the Boothbay Region Land Trust in Boothbay on April 28. 

The Department of Energy announced two new funding opportunities—totaling $315 million—as part of the Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) program.

The Department of Environmental Protection will hold a focus-meeting for the topic of municipal reimbursement on Tuesday, March 7th, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm EST. 

Working Waterfront Inventory Template.  The Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association and Tidal Bay Consulting recently released a new resource for municipal planning and preservation of the working waterfront.

Ethical Decision-Making. The Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine, in association with the UMA Community Policing Institute and Maine Chiefs of Police Association, is hosting a decision-making based pilot program for law enforcement officers developed by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to be held at Jewett Hall (UMA) on March 16 at 9 a.m.

New Tax Portal. Maine Revenue Services is replacing the EZ Pay, I-File and MEETRS system with the Maine Tax Portal. 

Sustainability & Water Conference.  The University of Maine, Senator George J. Mitchell Center will host the Maine Sustainability & Water Conference on Thursday, March 30 at the Augusta Civic Center.

ARPA Help Centers.  As reported by the National League of Cities, the U.S. Treasury re-opened its helpline and contact centers 2/21/23 to assist non-entitlement municipalities with ARPA reporting and compliance.

AARP Listening Tour.  AARP Maine is hosting its second annual virtual listening tour called What’s Your Story? The tour will include seven sessions held between February 20 and March 23.

Community Grant Program.  The Department of Environmental Protection is accepting applications for the Small Community Grant program to correct malfunctioning septic systems.  Grant applications will be accepted throughout the year but will be reviewed on a quarterly basis.

The Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future released the Community Resilience Partnership report.  In its first year of implementation, the Partnership made 74 Community Action Grant awards totaling $3.71 million to cities, towns, tribes, and unorganized communities in Maine. Visit this link to access the full report. 

The Maine Municipal Association is seeking nominees for its inaugural Education and Training Advisory Council. The formation of this Council was one of the major recommendations in the Municipal Curriculum Inventory and Training Gap Analysis conducted by MMA and BerryDunn in 2020 and 2021. The Advisory Council’s purpose is to support and advise MMA on developing and overseeing municipal educational and training needs across the State of Maine.

NLC has initiated a survey focused on the topic of local housing supply with the goal of learning more about the challenges that municipalities are facing, and to gauge their responsiveness to possible policy pathways and solutions.  Responses from the survey will inform the work of the newly launched Housing Supply Accelerator, a year-long campaign undertaken in partnership with the American Planning Association (APA). 

First Amendment Audits and what municipal officials need to know is the topic of a webinar being hosted by Bernstein Shur on Wednesday, February 15 at noon.