State recognizes Climate Smart community

MONTOUR FALLS--Gov. Andrew Cuomo recognized 16 communities Thursday, Sept. 26, including Montour Falls, that successfully completed the Climate Smart Communities certification. New York's Climate Smart Community (CSC) program is a jointly sponsored program that helps local governments reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate, while offering free technical assistance, grants and rebates for electric vehicles. Montour Falls was presented with a Bronze level certification for their efforts in the Climate Smart Community program.
Deputy Mayor James Ryan led a team of village officials, community volunteers and professional staff of Cornell Cooperative Extension Schuyler and CCE Tompkins to achieve this goal. Ryan stated, "As deputy mayor I have a great deal of gratitude for CCE Schuyler. Especially Katherine Herleman and the NY Extension Disaster Education Network who helped empower a small group of thoughtful, concerned people to facilitate change. Through the courage to take on the needed action items to obtain bronze CSC certification our community will gain strength--the strength needed to become a sustainable community well into the future. I see this program as an opportunity to support a resilient local economy, protecting resident safety and rebuilding aging infrastructure." This certification will act as a springboard for further actions to be taken by the village to reduce overall energy use, develop comprehensive municipal plans and implement them to adapt to climate change.
Montour Falls is the first municipality in Schuyler County to receive certification. Judy Cherry, co-chair of the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council and executive director of the Schuyler County Partnership for Economic Development, offered her congratulations to the community: "Congratulations to the village of Montour Falls and their board for the Bronze Award. They are setting the bar in our region by their leadership role in taking a long-term view and creating a community that is resilient, sustainable and attractive to green economy businesses."
Montour Falls was assisted in their certification efforts through a joint partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell University, the Water Resources Institute and All-Hazards Preparedness and Response Program out of Cornell University, and the Environmental Finance Institute out of Syracuse University.
The associate director of the Office of Climate Change, Mark Lowery, will honor the community with a Climate Smart Communities certification ceremony for Montour Falls at the Falls Harvest Festival Saturday, Oct. 5 in Montour Falls.