One Schuyler County village will be getting a $175,000 grant to continue its clean energy projects.
By reaching 7,000 points as part of the NYSERDA Clean Energy Initiative, the village of Montour Falls will receive the grant, which adds to the $1.5 million in total funding that the Sustainable Montour Falls Initiative has received since its inception seven years ago.
Montour Falls achieved Clean Energy Community designation in October 2018. The village was designated a Bronze Climate Smart Community in October 2019. To date, Sustainable Montour Falls has completed over $700,000 in projects with an additional $1.2 million in projects to be completed over the next 18 months.
Completed projects include:
- Clean energy upgrades to all municipal buildings resulting in significant savings to the village.
- The purchase of two Ford F150 Lightnings.
- Several community campaigns resulted in thousands saved by community members.
- LED street lighting throughout the village resulting in over $100,000 saved.
- The purchase of electric Public Works Department equipment.
- The installation of the county’s first Electric Vehicle Charging Station.
- The implementation of the village-wide food scraps recycling program which won the EPA 2023 Better Practice Award Winner for Solid Waste Reduction and Diversion Strategies and has resulted in 42 tons of waste being diverted from the waste stream and turned into high-quality compost.
Montour Falls launched the Villages’s Sustainable Montour Falls and Clean Energy Communities (CEC) program in 2017. Then-Deputy Mayor Ryan put together a small core of community-minded professionals and developed a road map for the village to follow. As the CEC plan was implemented, so was the formation of the Village of Montour Falls Sustainability Committee.
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