Common Council Reveals Clean Energy Status

by Kassadee Bradshaw | October 16, 2019 11:14 am

FULTON – At last night’s Common Council meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 15, Mayor Ronald Woodward and City Clerk/Chamberlain Daniel O’Brien announced Fulton has been designated as a Clean Energy Community by the NYS Energy Research and Development Authority. 

To be eligible for this, the city had to complete four out of 10 High Impact Actions[1]. Fulton’s actions included:

• Completed energy code enforcement training on best practices in energy code enforcement for code compliance officers and other municipal officers.
• Adopted a benchmarking policy to track and report the energy use of the county’s municipal buildings. 
• Converted streetlights to energy efficient LED technology.
• Streamlined the local approval processes for solar projects through adoption of the NYS Unified Solar Permit.

Woodward said he gave O’Brien this task four years ago and said he went above and beyond in meeting the goals of energy use reduction and energy cost reduction.

This Clean Energy Communities initiative began in August 2016 to support local government leaders throughout New York state by giving grants for implementing energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable development projects in those communities. This program is supportive of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Green New Deal[2]. 

Since Fulton has become one of these communities, the city has the opportunity to apply for a $5,000 grant toward additional clean energy projects with no local cost share, once those designated funds are exhausted. 

“I’m proud of this project,” O’Brien said. “Not only as the city chamberlain, but to also be a steward to the environment through this project.”

During public forum Dawn Bristol brought up another aspect of the environment that she believes the city is not being an advocate of. She said she had gone down to Sharp’s Pond and discovered that both the man made dam and the beaver dam had been removed. 

“The dam is gone. It’s been cleared right out to the bottom concrete,” Bristoll said.

Bristol recalled the council had decided back in June[3] to leave the decision of Sharp’s Pond’s fate to the next administration. 

She asked when the permit to deconstruct the dam was sent to the Department of Environmental Conservation and when the DEC conducted their environmental impact study. 

“So I assume you went to the DEC and found out we’re supposed to have our permit,” Woodward said. “Have them give me a call.”

Bristol said she has been in contact with the DEC and expects they will be calling the mayor’s office to discuss the dam with him. 

In regards to the environmental impact study, Woodward said they already know the dam will turn back into a creek. Bristol said there needs to be a study done to see how it will impact the wildlife that lives in and around the pond.

She is concerned about the fish, ducks, beavers and the water chestnuts[4], an invasive species that went down into the river as a result of the boards being removed.

Bristol also arranged to present for an ADA compliant park to the council.

Also during the meeting Frank Castiglia, Oswego County legislator and Fulton resident, discussed stump removal and upkeep of properties and their assessments. 

In the agenda, the council approved the city clerk’s August report, a local law amendment in ‘zoning,’ for the mayor to sign an agreement with Burke Group for GASB 75 valuation services (this has to do with post-retirement healthcare plans), for the mayor to sign a three-year agreement with USI Insurance Services (for city employees) and to advertise for a public hearing regarding the restriction of cats and dogs that run freely throughout the city.  

This public hearing will discuss the issue of feral cats the city faces, and what the council plans to do about it. It will be held during the next regularly scheduled Common Council meeting – Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Fulton Municipal Building.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/fulton/common-council-reveals-clean-energy-status/

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