WILTON — The Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments [AVCOG] announced on Wednesday, Nov. 23, that it was receiving a service provider grant from the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future [GOPIF].

With the grant, AVCOG can help two to five towns enroll in the Community Resilience Partnership program. The towns listed in this grant are Wilton, Rangeley, Kingfield, Philips, and Eustis.

According to their announcement, this grant will allow AVCOG to assist municipalities that may not have the capacity to enroll and become eligible for $50,000 no-match grants for resiliency projects.

The Community Resilience Partnership program was developed by GOPIF in response to climate change. The intent of the partnership is to assist communities to reduce carbon emissions, transition to clean energy, and become more resilient to climate change effects.

AVCOG has worked with other municipalities previously, including Carthage, Chesterville, Greenwood, and Jay. Jay took the final steps of enrollment in July. Livermore and Farmington have also taken steps in pursuing this grant program.

Some of the ways the grant money could be used include installing/replacing current heating and cooling systems in municipal buildings with more energy efficient models, upgrading town infrastructure, and upkeep on existing systems, such as water treatment and sewer maintenance.

The grant is released twice annually with the deadline for applications for this year ending on Sept. 20. The next application deadline will be on March 22, 2023.