The newly- elected Co-Presidents of The Hoosic River Revival (HRR), Judy Grinnell and Richard Tavelli, are pleased to announce that HRR and the City of North Adams are together aggressively pursuing federal funding to modernize the city’s aging, 70+ year-old Hoosic River flood control system. Working with the offices of Congressman Richard Neal and Senators Markey and Warren, along with the state legislative delegation from the Northern Berkshires, HRR and the City seek funding from Congress through multi-million dollar infrastructure/climate resilience bills or pandemic-related stimulus packages. The goal is to fund and build a modern flood control system that is safe, accessible, healthy, and attractive.
To support these efforts, the MA Division of Ecological Restoration (DER) will fund a consultant to advise HRR and the City on ways to strengthen and develop a more robust local management entity to guide the entire flood control project. The need for this was highlighted when the City recently listed flooding in the Municipal Vulnerability Plan (MVP) as its number one risk concern.
Grinnell and Tavelli also report that in April of this year, HRR Executive Director Jason LaForest resigned so that he could meet the demands of his professional nursing position working with Covid 19 patients. The HRR Board of Directors (BOD) subsequently reorganized its management team to strengthen its capacity to achieve the organization’s mission. Both Judy Grinnell, founder of HRR and long-term President of HRR and Richard Tavelli, another HRR Board member with a background in organization and project management, agreed to serve as Co- Presidents.
The Hoosic River Revival is a community-based, non-profit, private organization composed of area residents whose mission is to make the Hoosic River the gem in downtown North Adams, by revitalizing the River and its corridor, while simultaneously ensuring the safety of residents from flooding. #