DeFazio Park’s parking lot and Eliot school’s lighting are among the projects that have recently received state funding thanks to the efforts of the Department of Public Works’ office of sustainability. When Gabby Queenan, the town’s first-ever sustainability manager, took the job last spring, she knew there was a good chance Needham could be eligible for outside funding for sustainability efforts. And she’s proving she was right.
The grants track Queenan’s dual approach. “A problem like climate change has to be addressed holistically from both a mitigation angle and a resiliency angle,” she said. “And we will have to make some significant progress on both fronts to meet the goals that have been established in the Climate Action Roadmap.”
One $125,425 grant will help pay for regrading the DeFazio lot, collecting stormwater and removing excess phosphorus (found in fertilizers) before releasing it into the stormwater system. Currently the untreated runoff joins a small tributary of the Charles River called Alder Brook. The funding comes from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management, and the town has partnered with the Charles River Watershed Association on the project.
Another grant, of $162,848, will fund two energy-saving measures: the installation of LED lighting at Eliot School and heat pump water heaters at Town Hall and the DPW garage. That grant was the first Green Communities Competitive Grant secured by the town since its designation as a Green Community in 2020.
As for community support, Queenan said so far, so good. “The response I have heard from residents about town sustainability efforts so far has been positive. There’s been an appreciation for the work that is being done, and also a clear directive that we need to do more.”
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