To meet the challenge of rising sea waters and climate change, Madison voters and elected officials have taken the final steps to establish a Coastal Resiliency Commission. The commission’s creation was approved at town meeting on June 24 and the Board of Selectmen (BOS) formalized the commission’s charge later that evening.

The idea of forming a resiliency commission came up earlier this year, in large part due to conversations happening with the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) on flood plain management and the fact that the state has told towns to prepare for 20 inches of sea level rise by 2050.

Director of Planning and Economic Development Dave Anderson brought the idea of a resiliency commission to the Board of Selectmen (BOS) last month. He said the commission would take a comprehensive look at all of the issues the town could face and create a resiliency planning document.

The charge reads: “The Madison Coastal Resiliency Commission shall be charged with evaluating the impacts of climate change and sea level rise on the Town of Madison, and shall develop a resiliency plan to formulate a resiliency and adaptation strategy to address potential impacts to roads, municipal parks and facilities, other critical municipal infrastructure, public and private onsite septic systems, and emergency response services. The commission shall also conduct educational and public outreach activities to communicate its findings and recommendations, and shall provide budgetary recommendations to the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance. The Madison Coastal Resiliency Commission shall report directly to the Board of Selectmen in carrying out its duties.”

The creation of the commission was approved by default at the town meeting as there was not the necessary quorum of 75 voters for a vote to be held. However, those few residents in attendance spoke in favor of the commission.

“Our association is unanimously in support of this,” said Waterbury Avenue Beach Association Chair Dennis Van Liew. “We are very pleased that Dave Anderson took time to come to our beach and walk with us on the beach and discuss ideas about coastal resiliency. We wanted to be on the record that we are very much in support of this.”

The commission would have seven members, including Anderson. Town officials are not usually voting members on a commission and just serve as a resource or liaison, but Anderson and the selectmen agreed this commission will need to be a little different as this is a complex and technical issue and the commission will likely be active for many years.

The commission would report to the BOS, not PZC. In terms of who should be on the commission, Anderson said the hope is to try to get as many qualified and passionate people interested in the job as possible. First Selectman Tom Banisch agreed with Anderson when the BOS approved the commission charge.

“I think one of the things we wanted to do is to cast a wide net in terms of people coming out,” he said.

The BOS unanimously approved the charge of the commission. A few days after the meeting, the town sent out a notice to residents asking people to consider putting in an application to serve on the commission. The notice from the town read, “If you are interested in serving on this new commission, please complete the Board & Commission application by Friday, July 12. The Board of Selectmen will review all applications received and will begin conducting interviews with applicants during the week of July 15.”

A complete copy of the commission charge is available on the town website www.madisonct.org as well as a link to the volunteer application.