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Warren County Climate Smart task force reports grants pending and awarded; local advocate urges town-level action
Summary
At a Warren County Environmental Concerns committee meeting, the county's Climate Smart coordinator updated supervisors on recertification, a pilot municipal composting grant and other funding pursuits; an outside advocate urged local climate working groups and Climate Smart Community certification for towns.
Matthew Smith, the Warren County Climate Smart coordinator and a junior planner in the county planning department, told the Environmental Concerns and Real Property Tax Services Committee that the county's Climate Smart Communities bronze recertification has been submitted and that the county is watching multiple grant opportunities.
The update, presented during a regularly scheduled committee meeting, summarized a recently awarded pilot municipal composting grant, a pending $20,000 recycling data-and-outreach grant, participation in a regional climate listening session, and potential opportunities tied to a recent state environmental bond announcement.
The recertification is for the county's bronze Climate Smart Communities status, Smith said, and he added that he had submitted the recertification materials and was "looking to hear back March 10." He said the county worked with the Department of Public Works recyclables working group on a Climate Smart Communities award just under $100,000 to construct and operate a pilot municipal composting facility. Smith said a separate municipal waste recycling and reduction grant application for $20,000 that would fund data-collection tools and outreach changed status to "award pending" the day before the meeting.
The recertification and grants matter because Climate Smart Community certification can give the county preference for certain New York State grant programs, Smith said. The coordinator also described recent outreach: he helped organize a climate listening session in the Upper Hudson watershed with Sunita Halash's Adirondack Climate Outreach and Resilience Network (ACORN) and reported that about 25 people attended, including state and regional planning representatives, county staff and local advocates. Smith said ACORN expected to provide a written summary the following week and that he would distribute it to the task force and post it to the task force web page.
Diane Collins, who identified herself as a co-founder of North Country Earth Action and a climate-action volunteer, spoke during the meeting's public comment period and urged the committee to work with residents and towns on climate mitigation. "We would like to collaborate with you, the Warren County Environmental Committee, to bring about climate mitigation actions," Collins said, adding that she hoped supervisors from Horicon and Johnsburg would consider joining a climate-action working group to prioritize actions and explore Climate Smart Community committees in their towns.
Smith also reported that the Capital District Regional Planning Commission is developing a comprehensive climate action plan for the region and that the task force planned a March 5 presentation by that group. He noted the timing of a state announcement of $80 million in Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act funds and said the task force would watch for relevant application opportunities.
The task force set a tentative next meeting date; Smith said the April 30 date previously scheduled conflicted with the Envirothon and that he would propose an alternate date when available.
Speakers quoted or summarized in this article spoke during the committee meeting and the public-comment period. No formal committee votes on climate policy or grant acceptance were taken at this meeting; Smith described grant awards and pending applications only.
