Town of Northport, Maine

Incorporated in 1796

Climate Resilience Committee

The Select Board formed the Climate Resilience Committee in October 2023 in order to better understand the Town’s vulnerabilities to weather-related damage and storm surge, to begin to address those vulnerabilities, to find ways to make the Town’s properties more energy efficient, and to encourage residents to do the same.

The Committee was formed as part of the Town’s joining the state’s Community Resilience Partnership, and was a requirement of the Town’s successful application for grant funding for an engineering study of parts of the Town’s shoreline that are suffering rapid erosion and undermining.

The Committee includes:

  • Molly Schauffler, Co-Chair
  • Susan Conard, Co-Chair
  • Tinsley Morrision
  • Celine Bewsher
  • Patricia Gladding
  • John Krueger
  • Steve Fein
  • Shelley Swanson
  • Karen Gleeson
  • Ruth Mazzeo

The meetings are typically held once a month at the Town Office (16 Beech Hill Road), though the day and time varies. Agendas and minutes will be posted below as they become available.

Please contact the Town Administrator, James Kossuth, with any questions. If you would like to join the work of the Climate Resilience Committee, please also let James know at administrator@northportmaine.org.

Active Program: ScrapDogs Compost

ScrapDogs Compost: Click here for more or go to the compost page here.

2026 Summer Activity

The committee continued to discuss resilience concerns with residents at this year’s annual Spring Community Resilience Meeting. Participants identified resilience as the ability to cope with present and future challenges that impact the well-being of the Town and its residents. Residents identified environmental and economic pressures on the community, including:

  • Flooding and erosion
  • Drought and water management
  • Housing shortages and affordability
  • Growth in short term rentals
  • Increasing traffic
  • Rising energy costs
  • Power outages and grid readability

Grants

These annual meetings give guidance to Northport’s Climate Resilience Committee on where to focus its efforts. In the past three years the Committee has overseen submission of six grants to pay for resilience projects in Northport, with over $300,000 in grant funding to date.

  • Shoreline stabilization: Three grants were submitted and approved, totaling $238,000 for shoreline stabilization projects.
  • Stormwater management: A grant was approved to do a town-wide stormwater survey in preparation for better stormwater management. A $363,000 grant submitted this Spring to improve stormwater management in Temple Heights is pending approval.
  • Community Composting: The Town received funding for a pilot composting project at the Transfer Station. This will divert food waste from landfill disposal into compost production. Good for the environment and will save the Town money on disposal costs.
  • Energy Use and Cost: The committee submitted a $50,000 grant in June 2026 to develop a program to help Town residents with weatherization and electrification, which will help reduce energy consumption and cost.
  • Solar Array: We also raised over $100,000 from the community to support the installation of a solar array to help offset the Town’s electricity costs. This is fully funded and waiting for CMP and State permitting before installation.

2026 Minutes:

2026 Agendas:

2025 Minutes:

2025 Agendas:

Agendas:

Minutes: