Board and Committee Openings

Call for Ex-Officio Representatives to the Northern Middlesex Metropolitan Planning Organization

The Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG) is seeking up to three people who live or work in the Greater Lowell region to serve on the Northern Middlesex Metropolitan Planning Organization (NMMPO) as ex-officio, non-voting members.

The NMMPO is responsible for conducting the federally required metropolitan transportation planning process for the Greater Lowell area, comprised of Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Dunstable, Lowell, Pepperell, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, and Westford. This planning process is often called the 3C process because it is Continuing, Cooperative, and Comprehensive. The NMMPO uses this process to develop a vision for transportation in the region and to decide how to allocate federal and state transportation funds to transportation programs and projects that improve roadway, transit, bicycle, and pedestrian infrastructure. The vision established by the MPO is integral to each of the certification documents that the MPO is required to produce: the Long-Range Transportation Plan, the Transportation Improvement Program, and the Unified Planning Work Program.

Cooperatively selecting transportation programs and projects for funding is a role of the NMMPO’s voting members. The membership, which is documented in the NMMPO’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) includes state agencies, regional entities, and municipalities. Under this new MOU, three ex-officio non-voting seats are open for the following positions:

  • FILLED: A representative from a smaller Northern Middlesex community, specifically from the Towns of Dunstable, Pepperell, or Tyngsborough;
  • VACANT: An individual or organization representing the interests of an Environmental Justice community; and
  • FILLED: An individual or organization representing the interests of people who bicycle, walk, or roll.

The participation of these members is critical to ensuring that diverse voices are represented in the NMMPO’s transportation planning process and decision making.

NMCOG serves as staff to the NMMPO. Their work includes coordinating and preparing for NMMPO meetings, conducting research, presenting reports, projects, and materials for NMMPO consideration and endorsement, developing Federal certification documents, and administering public comment periods.

The NMMPO meets the fourth Wednesday of each month at 2:00 PM. Meetings typically run for one to one and one-half hours in duration. Board members participate either in-person at NMCOG offices (672 Suffolk Street, Suite 100, Lowell, MA, 01854) or via Zoom. At these meetings, the NMMPO will review, provide comment on, and endorse:

Transportation and mobility plans, both those that are federally required and those created by NMCOG staff under the agency’s Unified Planning Work Program;

  • The region’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and any related amendments or adjustments;
  • The NMMPO staff annual work plan (UPWP), which lays out tasks, activities, and projects staff complete on an annual or ongoing basis;
  • Documents, plans, and targets related to the Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA) when required by the Federal certification process;
  • Transportation and mobility performance targets for the region;
  • State and interregional programs and plans as necessary; and
  • General business items such as meeting minutes.

Please email Kelly Lynema, Deputy Director and Transportation Program Manager at klynema@nmcog.org with statements of interest, including which position (smaller NMCOG community, Environmental Justice community, or active transportation community) you are affiliated with. The seat for a an individual or organization representing the needs of an Environmental Justice community will remain open until filled.