By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
As a NYS “Climate Smart Community” (CSC), Cazenovia is part of a network of municipalities dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change.
In recognition of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22), the Cazenovia community came together to organize an Earth Week celebration, to be held April 18-25 at various locations.
“Cazenovia Earth Week is 35 community groups coming together to celebrate the wonderful and beautiful place that we live; educating ourselves about what we are and can be doing; and taking action here in our homes, neighborhoods and community to save our planet,” said Earth Week organizer Geoffrey Navias.
In light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, all scheduled public events have been postponed until 2021.
On April 7, the United Climate Action Network (U-CAN), the Cazenovia League of Women Voters (LWV), and the Town of Cazenovia held a virtual press conference to acknowledge the town’s certification as a Climate Smart Community (Bronze Level); to announce the LWV’s “Local Response to Climate Change” publication; and to publicize the initiation of U-CAN’s annual “Greater Cazenovia Area Earth Day Climate Report.”
LWV board member Anne Saltman, Cazenovia Town Councilor Kristi Andersen, and U-CAN Steering Committee member Geoffrey Navias led the press conference.
League of Women Voters
The LWV is currently working with eleven local groups on a document titled “Local Response to Climate Change April 2020.”
According to Saltman, LWV volunteers are reaching out to representatives from the Town and Village of Cazenovia, Cazenovia College, Cazenovia Area Community Development Association, Cazenovia Central School District, the Cazenovia Public Library, Cazenovia Call to Action, United Climate Action Network, the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation, the Cazenovia Lake Association, and the Madison County Planning Department to compile information on energy-saving initiatives implemented since the publication of the “Cazenovia Climate Action Plan.”
Developed in 2015, the Climate Action Plan (CAP) is the product of a partnership between the town, the village, the CNY Regional Planning and Development Board, and local organizations.
“As far as I know, there are no other partnerships throughout New York State that have done a climate action plan as a combined initiative between two municipalities,” said Saltman.
The plan includes a comprehensive list of recommendations to reduce the local impacts of climate change, such as flooding, storm water runoff, and strong storm events.
By the year 2025, the town and village aim to reduce their overall greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent. The shared goal applies to emissions from all town and village government operations.
The CAP provides recommendations for reaching that goal through energy efficiency, adaptation measures, and the use of renewable resources such as solar and wind among others.
According to Saltman, the LWV plans to distribute its Local Response to Climate Change report by Earth Day.
The document will be sent electronically to LWV members, the organizations that submitted information, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The report will also be available on the U-CAN website at unitedclimateaction.org.
According to the “Purpose Statement” for the LWV’s report, Governor Cuomo is committed to ensuring that New York State communities are prepared for strong weather events, and he continues to promote efforts to strengthen municipal responses to climate change.
“Cazenovia is at the forefront of this goal,” the LWV said in the statement. “[We are] hopeful that our document will shine a positive light on the inspiring work that’s being done in Cazenovia. As a Climate Smart Community, we’ve made significant progress in efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change and we have much to be proud of.”
Town of Cazenovia
In March, the Town of Cazenovia was designated a Bronze Certified Climate Smart Community by the DEC.
According to Saltman, Cazenovia joined the CSC program in 2009.
To become “certified,” communities must complete and document a suite of actions that mitigate and adapt to climate change at the local level. Municipalities are also required to show that they have an active climate action task force that includes municipal and citizen representatives.
Participation in the CSC Certification program offers a number of benefits, including better scores on grant applications for some state funding programs, like DEC’s CSC Grants.
“By the time Tina McMurtrie — the assistant to the town supervisor — and I started looking at how to get to the Bronze level a year and a half ago, we had already completed a lot of the things that could be done to get us points,” Andersen said. “It’s just been a matter of documenting these actions in a way that’s acceptable to the [program]. It’s been a really good experience because the town board members and the highway department . . . have been very positive and willing to [help].”
The town was recognized with the Bronze award for the following accomplishments:
- Developing a climate change plan for the town
- Installing LED streetlights in New Woodstock and at the junctions of Route 92 and Bethel &
- Temperance Hill Roads
- Insulating the Town Highway Garage
- Building a salt shed to provide better storage without runoff
- Installing computers on plow trucks for more environmentally friendly distribution of salt and/or brine
- Adopting the NYS recommended streamlined permit process for solar installations
- Monitoring (and reducing) yearly carbon emissions from town property
- Upgrading town building interior lighting to LED
- Participating in Energy Code enforcement training
The Town of Cazenovia has also helped secure Farmland Protection Grants for Critz Farms on Rippleton Road, Reed Farm on Reservoir Road, Greyrock Farm on East Lake Road, Pushlar Farm on Fenner Road, and Gianforte Farm on Peth Road.
In 2018, the town developed its Lakeshore Development Guidelines, which provide specific rules for shoreline construction and landscaping. The guidelines are designed to preserve the naturalistic shoreline as much as possible in an effort to prevent erosion and preserve the health of the lake and the lake watershed.
Currently, the town is working with the CNY Regional Planning & Development Board and Abundant Solar to construct an array of solar panels near the Highway Garage that will provide electricity for the municipal properties and help reduce power costs for local residents.
“The Town and Village of Cazenovia started the process of becoming a Climate Smart Community together, and it’s one of the few village and towns that have done this together,” Navias said. “I know that Hamilton is looking at Cazenovia as a model . . . So in some ways Cazenovia is really leading the way and that’s exciting.”
U-CAN
The United Climate Action Network is a grassroots group in New York’s 22nd Congressional District that advocates for environmentally sustainable policies and engages with businesses, schools, and other local community organizations to advance environmental literacy and sustainable practices.
According to the organization, U-CAN’s most significant contribution is bringing a cross section of local individuals, groups and governmental bodies together in conversation, education, planning and actions to confront and solve the climate crisis.
In March 2019, the organization hosted the first regional Climate Action Leadership Summit, an event that brought together more than 40 community leaders to discuss the regional impacts of climate change and to share ideas on how to mitigate and adapt to the harmful effects at the local level. A follow-up summit was held in June 2019.
U-CAN has also hosted weekly Farmers Market education tables; organized the annual “Seize the Power:” Renewable Energy Fair; worked with local, regional, state and national governing bodies to impact public policy; supported youth leaders in the climate movement; advocated for the Climate Leadership and Communities Protection Act (CLCPA); and organized Cazenovia Earth Week.
The organization’s latest initiative is its annual Earth Day Report.
The purpose of the document is to encourage area groups, organizations and institutions to report annually on their accomplishments, challenges, and plans for the coming year.
Although the specific format has yet to be formalized, the first report will include both individual organizational reports and the LWV’s April 2020 report.
“The idea is that this annual report is about more than just delivering a finished product [each] Earth Day; it’s really [more of a process], where we are inviting this conversation early on, continuing the conversation throughout the year, and then really highlighting and celebrating what [we] have been able to accomplish…It’s also a great way to hold us all more accountable . . . For a lot of us, trying to deal with [climate change] on a global scale is just too big. What we can do is try to deal [with it] locally and then network between the different groups to share that work.”
For more information on the Earth Day Report, contact Navias at [email protected].
