NYStretch proposal withdrawn, climate committee reinstated

VILLAGE OF FAYETTEVILLE – The Fayetteville Village Board has decided to temporarily reverse course on a local law intended to incorporate the NYStretch Code.
At its July 18 meeting, the board withdrew the proposal and closed the public hearing pertaining to the adoption of the optional, supplemental program, which was designed to institute energy efficiency standards more stringent than the requirements laid out in the 2020 Energy Conservation Construction Code of New York State.
Trustee Mark Matt said the move to advance with the local law felt less appropriate following Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recent approval of legislation that was related to energy policies but distinguishable in ways from the stretch code.
Earlier this month, Hochul signed a package of three bills altogether meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in buildings, heighten standards for appliances, and regulate utility thermal energy networks for heating and cooling homes. Part of the legislation also necessitates prevailing wage for renewable energy projects one megawatt or larger.
Mayor Mark Olson said the state’s individual municipalities, like the Village of Fayetteville, could have instead worked out a plan with the governor’s office that would encompass input from their ends. “The governor did actually what I thought she was gonna do,” Olson said. “She basically took unilateral action on something that she shouldn’t have taken a unilateral action on, so we now have codes we have to abide by that we’re not in charge of.”
Matt said the Village will likely reevaluate the direction they head with the matter if a new stretch code is drawn up in the winter.
The Village has also reinitiated its Climate Smart Communities (CSC) program, which previously fell through after half of the original committee formed in 2018 moved away. Though the expectation is that the reimplemented group will enlarge as it progresses, the newly appointed members are Maureen Gould, Cheryl Matt, Dr. Hilary McManus, Chris Randall, Mike Smith, and Peter Wirth, who will serve as the coordinator responsible for managing the task force and liaising as needed between it and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) officials. The terms of all six expire at the end of March 2023.
In its mission to attain for Fayetteville the state-certified status of a bronze-level community in about two years’ time, the advisory group will serve as the village’s central body of leadership for mitigating the effects of climate change, Mark Matt said.
Matt, who will work with the committee going forward, said the membership will focus on bringing more electric vehicle charging stations and LED lighting into the community.
Representing backgrounds in electric work, the field of education, and law, the task force is required to meet at least twice a year, but Matt said it will more likely congregate on a monthly basis.
In other news
The Village is set to hold one of its parties in Limestone Plaza with musical guest Los Blancos from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 21.