Village of Lansing wins more than $500K for new sidewalks

The village of Lansing’s dive into the Climate Smart Communities program continues to pay dividends. The village was awarded slightly more than half a million dollars to construct new sidewalks around Uptown and Craft Roads on Dec. 23, according to a New York state announcement. 

The village of Lansing was awarded the funds in part because of its participation in the New York state Climate Smart Communities (CSC) initiative. 

The designation helps municipalities tap into state funding that could help them improve their infrastructure and be better prepared to mitigate the effects of climate change. 

After five years of dedicated work in the program, Lansing received its bronze designation on July 15. 

The village will use the money to construct approximately 3,335 linear feet of sidewalk along Uptown and Craft Roads, connecting two apartment complexes, two public bus stops, the Triphammer Marketplace, three municipal parks, the Lansing trails neighborhood and several health and medical care facilities. State officials said in a press release that filling in those sidewalk gaps creates a more complete pedestrian transit system, allowing for the reduction in vehicle miles traveled and, in turn, also curtailing greenhouse gas emissions.

The funds for Lansing’s sidewalk project come from funding awarded to the Regional Economic Development Councils (REDC). Municipalities such as Lansing receive the money through their respective REDCs — in this case, Lansing is a part of the Southern Tier’s REDC. 

Lansing’s award is one of almost 400 projects that received around $300 million in state funds. The REDC awarded Lansing the funds due to its participation in the CSC initiative. CSC itself is overseen by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.

New York Secretary of State Walter T. Mosley congratulated award winners in a press release.

“Over the years, the REDC initiative has created jobs, affordable housing and sparked economies all across our state and the Department of State has been proud to play a role,” he noted. “Large scale transformational projects are serious game changers for our winning regions.”

The village is looking to continue its participation in the CSC initiative. In November, Mayor Ronny Hardaway posted a survey on the village’s website, looking for community input on potential incoming CSC-related projects. 

“The purpose of this community survey is to invite community members to prioritize proposed village projects, and/or submit other project ideas for the village to consider and undertake to advance long-term resilience and sustainability goals,” Hardaway wrote in the post on the village’s website.

The survey can be found here: https://villageoflansingny.gov/csc-cec-community-survey/.

CSC supports local efforts to meet the economic, social and environmental challenges of climate change. Through the program, municipalities can access leadership recognition, grants and free technical assistance. 

Municipalities participate by signing a voluntary pledge and using the CSC framework to guide progress toward creating attractive, healthy and equitable places to live, work and play. 

The program’s goals include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, promoting an economy built on green innovation, increasing energy security and reliability, improving public health and safety, building resilience to resist the impacts of climate change and saving taxpayer dollars.

Municipalities in the program receive free technical assistance from regional CSC coordinators to aid with clean energy and climate initiatives. They can also access a network of state grant and rebate opportunities, such as the municipal zero-emission vehicle program that reduces the cost of electric vehicles and charging stations. Other grants can help fund climate change mitigation and adaptation projects.

To become certified, communities must adopt resolutions and take a CSC pledge. To further advance in the program and unlock more opportunities to reach their climate change goals, municipalities complete actions recommended by the state. These actions can determine whether a locality is in the “bronze” or “silver” tier, which showcases a municipality’s progress toward its goals.