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City sustainability director outlines Climate Smart, Clean Energy and SolSmart progress
Summary
Mount Vernon’s director of sustainability briefed council members on three state and federal programs—Climate Smart Communities, Clean Energy Communities and SolSmart—covering certification actions, grant opportunities, and next steps including creating a sustainability advisory board and participating in the Climate Action Planning Institute.
Shane Brooks, Mount Vernon’s director of sustainability, updated the City Council on Feb. 10 about the city’s participation in three sustainability programs: the state Climate Smart Communities (CSC) program, New York State’s Clean Energy Communities (CEC) initiative, and the national SolSmart technical assistance program.
Brooks said the city has registered for CSC (a New York State program led by the Department of Environmental Conservation with supporting agencies including NYSERDA, DOS, DOT, DOH, PSC and NYPA) and must complete certain mandatory and high‑impact actions to reach certification and unlock additional funding. The city passed a municipal resolution to register in 2023, Brooks said, and staff is moving to create a sustainability advisory board to serve as the Climate Smart Task Force and appoint a coordinator to manage the program. Brooks said the council’s next step on the task force is a planned procurement list to hire sustainability consultants to help establish the committee’s application, bylaws and recruitment process.
On the Clean Energy Communities front, Brooks said Mount Vernon has secured initial CEC designation grant money and additional CEC funding targeting clean heating and cooling and disadvantaged community bonuses. Previously awarded funds supported energy‑efficiency studies of City Hall, the Dole Center and the Police/Court complex. Brooks said the city has reserved $15,000 of recent CEC funds toward buying the city’s first fully electric vehicle but noted that EV infrastructure (charging) is not yet in place.
Brooks described the Climate Action Planning Institute (CAPI), a facilitated, multi‑month program the city will join through a Westchester County grant to develop government‑operation greenhouse gas inventories and a government operations climate action plan. He said leveraging overlapping actions across CSC and CEC can maximize funding and streamline projects.
Brooks also said SolSmart helped Mount Vernon adopt a unified solar permit (a simplified, two‑page permit) and that staff should complete additional SolSmart steps—such as clearer website guidance on solar permitting—to move the city to a higher SolSmart designation. Council members asked for timelines and more detail on task force formation, consultant procurement, and next actions needed to unlock grant money; Brooks said he would provide a schedule and supplemental materials to the council.
Brooks emphasized that creating an advisory board and a coordinator position would provide capacity to pursue grants, implement projects such as smart controls and municipal building upgrades, and manage public inquiries and programs like tree planting and outreach.
