County staff seek quick action on culvert grant, propose land bank and schedule BESS/data‑center discussion

Ethan, planning and community development staff for Warren County, briefed the Economic Growth & Development Committee on May 20 on several near‑term items: an authorization to proceed with procurement of test pits funded by CDBG for septic replacements; a recommendation to present a floor resolution to support a Mother Nature Bond Act application for culvert replacement; further work on a county capital project inventory; and next steps for housing and land‑bank exploration.

On the culvert and timing: Ethan said Resolution 179 of 2026 authorized county staff and DPW to apply for up to $2,000,000 in Mother Nature Bond Act funds and that staff identified one culvert project that fits the program criteria and would score highly. He cautioned that the culvert’s estimated total replacement cost is about $2,600,000 and recommended bringing a floor resolution at the next board meeting because the grant application deadline is at the end of June.

On the land bank and Brownfield inventory: Ethan described recent conversations with the North Country Rural Development Corporation and its executive director Nicole Justice Green about administrative partnerships to stand up a land bank for Warren County, noting that other counties have implemented land banks with little or no net budget impact by leveraging state subsidies and grants. He outlined common revenue sources for land banks — state operational funds, state acquisition dollars (speaker cited typical availability around $1,000,000 for acquisition in some programs), in‑kind grants, and donations — and discussed acquisition channels such as tax‑foreclosure and donations.

Planning and zoning working group: Ethan said the county’s planning and zoning working group will meet June 4 to exchange best practices among municipal staff, and that the agenda will include battery energy storage systems (BESS) and data centers, issues that local municipalities have been tracking.

Committee response and next steps: Supervisors asked clarifying questions about match funding, procurement timing (bids returned May 22) and how land‑bank activities would be seeded and managed. Ethan said bids for test pits were due May 22 and a contractor would be selected prior to the next board meeting; he asked the committee to move the septic CDBG procurement forward, which the chair did and the motion carried. On the culvert grant, he urged placing a floor resolution on the next board agenda because of the June deadline. Staff will follow up with the clerk’s office to get the culvert resolution on the board packet and will return with specific project details when available.

Ending: The committee thanked planning staff and scheduled the June 4 planning & zoning working group meeting; no formal vote on the culvert grant application occurred at this meeting.