After last summer’s extreme drought and this summer‘s extreme precipitation, our town must integrate hazard mitigation into future development planning. This is the key message of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Action Plan approved by the Select Board in 2020. Risks are inland flooding, extreme heat, drought, wildfires, and other severe weather events (hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms). The report, to be renewed in 2025, makes the point that towns must make smart investing decisions. Every dollar spent today saves money on future disaster losses.

A Growth Management Plan should address these risks, potentially the costliest future expense we face as homeowners and as a municipality.

Are there resources to help better understand our risk exposure?  Yes.

First Street Foundation is a non-profit organization of researchers and modelers exploring the country’s risk exposure to climate hazards. Realtor.com, Redfin, government agencies and insurers rely on their models. This Fall, First Street produced its 9th National Risk Assessment - the Insurance issue. The link to the report is HERE. The link to the YouTube webinar presentation is: https://pitch.com/v/Insurance-Bubble-cihncu/731a75d2-fecb-4d91-8761-e91dc4a7a52b.

First Street Foundation is predicting an insurance bubble: “The unrealized climate-corrected valuation gap represents a growing climate bubble which is just starting to be recognized and quantified.… When risk increases…insurance payouts begin to outpace premiums and require a risk correction which must come in the form of increased policy rates for homeowners. As homeowners see growing insurance rates tied back to their increasing climate risk, their cost of homeownership for the property increases. In some cases, this will lead to homeowners foregoing insurance and in others the value of their property will effectively become lower than the financing they took out to purchase it…” (p. 5).

Not only is flooding a key risk for many Pepperell residents, but so is extreme heat. Specifically, our Main Street area is a heat island due to its permanent impervious surfaces. If the town chooses to develop this section of town with more density development without mitigating the heat island effects, residents and businesses will suffer.

 A Growth Management plan, in identifying strategic growth areas, can address environmental risks related to development.