Bill will create local resilience authority to help finance infrastructure projects addressing the impacts of climate change
Annapolis, MD - The Anne Arundel County Council passed legislation to create a local Resilience Authority to finance and support the construction of resilience infrastructure. County Executive Steuart Pittman, Anne Arundel County Councilmembers Sarah Lacey (District 1), Allison Pickard (District 2), Andrew Pruski (District 4), and Lisa Rodvien (District 6), and Mayor of Annapolis Gavin Buckley issued the following comments
County Executive Steuart Pittman:
“I want to thank the County Council for passing legislation to create a Resilience Authority, and I want to thank our lead sponsors in the Maryland General Assembly - Senator Sarah Elfreth and Delegates Courtney Watson and Brooke Lierman - for their work in moving forward with the state authorizing legislation.
The Anne Arundel County Resilience Authority is the brainchild of the best minds in resilience financing, and experts across the country are watching us. It accompanies our resilience plan and the resilience section of Plan2040. Rather than depending completely on our taxpayers to fund our defense against the impacts of climate change, we are creating a body that will attract federal and private funds to our jurisdiction.”
Councilwoman Sarah Lacey:
"The Resilience Authority legislation is the product of partnership between County Executive Pittman and my colleagues on the Council. Our work helps chart a unique and fiscally responsible path forward for Anne Arundel County, allowing us to build infrastructure that's responsive to the challenges of climate change at the local level."
Councilman Andrew Pruski:
“The Resilience Authority is a forward-thinking and fiscally responsible local way to address our county’s need for infrastructure improvements and to mitigate the impacts of climate change.”
Councilwoman Allison Pickard:
"The Resilience Authority represents the kind of problem solving we need in 2021: innovative, modern, proactive, and fiscally responsible.
Since taking office, I have worked alongside residents and communities throughout District 2 on the impacts of climate change - inland flooding, stormwater run-off, poor drainage. We know the problems in our backyards and our roadways are getting worse - and more costly - to address, with a $200 million backlog of resilience infrastructure construction projects
Creating a resilience authority helps us take on those projects through a fiscally responsible approach, exactly the kind of problem-solving I was elected to tackle."
Councilwoman Lisa Rodvien:
"The Resilience Authority is a creative and fiscally responsible local approach to addressing a global issue - the need to plan and finance resilience infrastructure in the face of climate change. This legislation will make Anne Arundel County a national leader for local solutions on resilience infrastructure."
Mayor of Annapolis Gavin Buckley:
"More than two years ago, 100 volunteer residents of Annapolis recommended a design and financing for a resilience plan for City Dock and we have been able to move this idea to a partnership with the state and the county. I couldn't be more excited to see it moving to the next phase."
