Boston Council Committee Advances $1.9 Million in Climate and Park Resilience Grants

BOSTON -- August 14, 2025, Boston council committee advances three climate grants totaling nearly $1.9 million, led by a $1.17 million FEMA award for Moakley Park. The Committee on Environmental Justice, Resiliency, and Parks, chaired by Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, heard presentations Thursday on Docket 1258, a FEMA BRIC grant funding design and permitting of a coastal flood berm at the nearly 60-acre South Boston park, as well as a $644,458 USDA urban forestry grant and a $75,000 state MVP Planning 2.0 grant. Chris Osgood, the city's Director of Climate Resilience, confirmed that a separate phase of the original BRIC award, more than $22 million for construction, was cancelled by FEMA earlier this year and is being contested in court alongside 20 states. Councilor Edward M. Flynn, whose district includes the park, demanded firm commitments on where South Boston athletic leagues would play during a construction window targeted for 2027 to 2029, warning that "the impact it has on athletic teams will be significant." City officials said the design phase now funded by the grant will yield a cost-benefit ratio of $16 returned for every dollar spent, with public housing developments Mary Ellen McCormick and Old Colony identified as front-line communities the berm is designed to protect.