Director of Maines new Office of Community Affairs talks climate change [Video]

AUGUSTA, Maine — A year after calamitous winter flooding wreaked havoc on infrastructure throughout Maine, local officials are looking for long-term solutions to ward off the increasing and intensifying disasters fueled by climate change.

They’re applying for grants, completing technical reviews and engaging in regulatory processes. But small town governments aren’t necessarily equipped to handle the scale and scope of the projects their communities need. 

That’s where the freshly minted Maine Office of Community Affairs comes in: a one-stop shop for Maine communities as they sketch project blueprints, tap into funding opportunities and navigate state and federal bureaucracy.

Last October, Mills appointed the biologist Samantha Horn — a former director of science for The Nature Conservancy and long-time leader in state government natural resource programs — to lead the office.

I spoke …