Dundee looks to green initiative

DUNDEE--The village of Dundee has a significant opportunity to pursue a greener, innovative initiative for the downtown area with the state potentially paying 90 percent of the cost.
Representatives from the Rochester engineering and environmental firm Barton and Loguidice presented a summary of the Dundee project at the village meeting Tuesday, July 11.
Nicole Cleary, the project landscape architect from Barton and Loguidice, said the Dundee project takes advantage of several different factors. First, New York state is sponsoring a 2017 grant program through the Environmental Facilities Corporation called the Green Innovation Grant Program. For the grant, the state is looking for villages, towns and cities to assess their individual areas and to review what streetscapes could be improved. The program goals are to protect and improve water quality, spur innovation in stormwater management, build capacity locally and beyond by inspiring others to build and maintain green infrastructure and facilitate the transfer of new technologies and practices to other areas of the state.
During her presentation, Cleary outlined the various improvements her company is recommending Dundee to adopt with the program.
Cleary said their plans for Dundee would create a model of sustainable green streets in the downtown area. The project reduces stormwater by re-engineering streetscape alignments on Main, Water, Union, Seneca Streets and Harpending Avenue.
Cleary said the plan takes advantage of green technology for pavement and sidewalk surfaces that allows water to be captured and then directed to targeted runoff areas. The street surface is permeable pavement (also called flex pave) and heavy-duty porous asphalt with bioretention bump-outs in the street (see illustration above).
Cleary said they also plan to install water collecting "chase inlets" and plant new trees to add a greener, streetscape identity for Dundee.
Re-grading the sidewalks in this downtown area and creating buffer zones for street crossing will help pedestrian traffic.
The overall cost of the project is $1.5 million. The state pays 90 percent of the program . Cleary said the state wants to share these best practices with towns and villages across the state and this project will help with that goal. Dundee would pay only 10 percent of the cost ---- $150, 000.
Dundee Mayor Fred Cratsley said, "We know this is a opportunity for the village, but we need to first be selected for the program based on our application and the support letters we submit. We are involved in that process right now." The deadline for Dundee to submit their grant application is July 24.