The Maine Coastal Program announces the opening of its grant program, which promotes sound waterfront planning and harbor management. Grant applications cannot exceed $30,000 and a 25 percent local match (cash or in-kind) is required. Deadline to apply for the grants is May 18, 2018.

The Maine Alliance for Smart Growth, Maine Downtown Center and Kennebec Valley Council of Governments will hold a seminar on dealing with rising water levels and flooding, on May 8 at Augusta City Hall.

The process of nominating MMA Executive Committee members and Vice President to serve in 2019 is under way. The Executive Committee guides MMA staff in making operational, financial and strategic decisions. The deadline to return a Statement of Interest to serve on this important board is Monday, May 7, 2018 by 12:00 noon.

The Island Institute will hold the 2018 Island Energy Conference on May 3-5 in South Portland and on Islesboro, with the theme, “Resilient Together.” The conference will highlight the ways in which island communities are increasing their energy resilience.

This week, our State & Federal Relations staff updates members on the progress of LD 1629, a bill that would change the way municipalities can address senior citizens who stop paying their property taxes. We also provide an update on the recreational and medical marijuana fronts.

Friday’s Legislative Bulletin, written and compiled by our State & Federal Relations staff, focused on a bill that affects liens on properties owned by senior citizens, county jail operations and recreational marijuana regulation.

Today, we are posting the written and Power Point materials that were presented as part of this week’s Regulating Vacation Rentals Workshop, held here at the Maine Municipal Association. The workshop was at capacity attendance-wise. MMA expects to hold another program on this topic late this year and/or in 2019.

Maine Municipal Association’s 2018 Federal Issues Paper is out, an important publication that highlights the importance of federal issues to municipalities throughout our state. This year’s report looks at the sources of municipal revenues, infrastructure challenges, broadband, Community Development Block Grants and more.

Today, the State & Federal Relations staff at Maine Municipal Association updated members about ranked-choice voting, Local Government Efficiency Grants and sex offender setbacks in our weekly Legislative Bulletin update.

The State of Maine’s Department of Economic and Community Development announces a grant opportunity for municipal, county or regional governments seeking to create efficiencies in service to residents. A copy of the RFP, as well as a question and answer summary and all amendments related to the department’s RFP, is now available. The deadline to participate is April 30, 2018.