Central Street Culvert is Central in State’s BRIC Lawsuit

State AG tours site, vows legal fight to protect funding for critical infrastructure

MA Rep. Ann Margaret Ferrante (left) and MA Attorney General Andrea Campbell on Tuesday at a press conference in Manchester designed to call out the real-life fallout of federal cuts to projects like MBTS’ Central Street culvert restoration. At rear, town officials and a representative from US Sen. Markey’s office look on.

Kirk R.Williamson

The Central Street Culvert is the mechanism under the small historic vehicle bridge that controls flood surges at the exit of Manchester's Saw Mill Brook.

Kirk R.Williamson

Posted Thursday, August 7, 2025 2:28 pm

It’s hard not to feel helpless,” said Tony Barletta, Manchester’s new Town Administrator, adding that “the timing of this is devastating.”

By Erika Brown

On Tuesday, Manchester’s $5+ million Central Street Culvert project was the poster child for a 20-state coalition federal lawsuit asserting that cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program were made illegally, and without proper approval by US Congress.

MA Attorney General Andrea Campbell visited Manchester to tour the culvert site with local officials.

“Only Congress has the authority to fund the government,” she said, noting that Congress created the BRIC program after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to strengthen local infrastructure against future disasters. She said cutting it puts $150 million in current state BRIC projects like the Central Street culvert in jeopardy.

“This program has never been more relevant,” she said, citing this summer’s catastrophic floods in Texas.

The press conference, held behind Town Hall near the culvert itself, was attended by MA Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante; Mark Lannigan from U.S. Senator Ed Markey’s office; Select Board members John Round and Cathy Bilotta; Town Engineer and Facilities Manager Nathan Desrosiers; and other local officials.

Campbell’s office is co-leading a coalition of 20 states suing the federal government for what they call an unlawful shutdown of the BRIC program. The lawsuit seeks to reinstate BRIC funding and block the Trump administration’s attempt to reallocate the money elsewhere.

The culvert project was awarded $4.5 million in BRIC money nearly two years ago and the funds already approved by Congress, which is why it’s a model example of what Campbell’s lawsuit says is an illegal claw back by an unauthorized entity (a.k.a., the current Administration). The project had been slated to begin design and engineering work later this year.

“It’s hard not to feel helpless,” said Tony Barletta, Manchester’s new Town Administrator, adding that the project is at the 50-yard line after years in the making, and is set to start later this year. “The timing of this is devastating.”

Flood protection, and Cape Ann’s power grid

The project to modernize the deteriorating culvert beneath Central Street is often tied to environmental resilience, but it plays a dual role: managing stormwater runoff in an increasingly flood-prone area and housing a key electrical transmission line that serves all of Cape Ann.

Manchester Select Board Vice Chair John Round said the culvert is not only critical for flood control but essential to long-term regional grid stability supplying the region’s electricity from Beverly. The vulnerability of Cape Ann’s electrical grid has long been lamented by officials throughout the region, since it is a stumbling block to expansion of businesses located here.

“This isn’t just about water. It’s about economic development,” he said. “If the culvert fails, that main power line goes with it. That impacts the whole region.”

Combined, the culvert and related Central Pond infrastructure improvements represent a major public investment:

$4,484,673 in BRIC funding for the Central Street culvert and bridge
$1,493,627 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for restoration of the adjacent Central Pond
$500,000 from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Small Bridge Program

The Town of Manchester will be responsible for covering any remaining project costs once construction bids are finalized.

Worse without a plan

At the press event, Barletta responded to concerns raised by Manchester resident Robert Coyne, who warned that construction would “cut the downtown in half,” hurting local businesses. He questioned whether the project was even necessary. With no posted weight limit on tonnage, he said, how bad can the bridge be?

Barletta clarified that the problem isn’t the bridge—it’s the 100-year-old culvert underneath. Engineering reports from as far back as 2016 confirmed the vulnerability of the culvert. It’s not a question of if it will fail—but when.

“There would be a much longer-term displacement of the local economy if it broke on its own,” said Barletta.

Plans call for construction to begin just after Labor Day, during Manchester’s off-season, and to wrap by April 2026. The town has worked hard to minimize the impact to businesses and residents, said Barletta.

In Massachusetts, the BRIC program has supported dozens of projects—from flood mitigation in Boston and Chelsea to small-town hazard planning. Now, the projects hang in the balance as the states await a federal court ruling.

Coalition of 20 State AGs

The BRIC lawsuit is one of several recent legal efforts led by a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general to challenge what they describe as unconstitutional executive overreach. AG Campbell and her counterparts in 19 other states filed the BRIC suit in U.S. District Court in Boston, arguing that the federal government cannot rescind congressionally approved funds without legislative authority.

Rep. Ferrante, who is vice chair of the MA House Appropriations Committee, said funding AG Campbell’s efforts in this year’s difficult budget season was frictionless precisely because of efforts like this lawsuit.

“Sadly, this Central Street project is under attack without explanation,” said Ferrante, referring to federal cuts this year being led by AI word searches rather than by seeing the human impact of a given program. “This partisan nonsense has to stop.”

On Monday, a federal judge agreed—granting a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocks FEMA from diverting BRIC funding, a decision widely seen as a win for local governments.

The same group of AGs, including Campbell, also filed suit in late July against the U.S. Dept. of Education over its abrupt freeze of nearly $6.8 billion in K–12 and adult education grants. She said that legal action resulted in the restoration of federal education funding to Massachusetts.

If the lawsuit is ultimately successful, Manchester’s Central Street project could proceed in its normal avenue, although the project is under a separate appeal filed by the owner of Boo Bird, the restaurant immediately abutting the culvert, who has said the project will devastate her business.

Until then, uncertainty remains in Manchester for this project’s federal funding and locals will stay tuned.