Town receives $112,000 for coastal management plan updates

The town received $112,000 from the state to put toward updating the Wareham Harbor Plan, a document outlining how the town manages the environmental growth and impact of its coastal areas.

“It’s basically the strategies for managing coastal harbor areas,” Harbormaster Garry Buckminster said. “It works with things like recreation, economic development on the waterways, climate change and things of that nature.”

According to Buckminster, Wareham was one of the first towns in the area to create one in 1996 but it hasn’t been updated in the 30 years since.

The grant was awarded from the Seaport Economic Council, a state agency aimed at helping coastal communities use their local assets to facilitate economic growth Wednesday, Jan. 7. The $112,000 will be used to work with a consulting firm to begin updating the document.

Buckminster said many of the updates will address “outdated material” such as old statistics surrounding water quality and “refreshing [the plan] from cover to cover.”

He added the updating process has not started yet and he will work with town administration and the Select Board in the coming weeks to create an updating approach with the consulting firm.