Ulysses looks to ‘green’ state dollars for sustainable projects around town

The Ulysses Town Board is looking to replace the heating system at the Town Highway Department garage and swap out its code enforcement car for an electric vehicle using state grants.

The two grants, which could total $60,000, would come from the state’s Clean Energy Communities program. The town has previously been awarded $5,000 through the program and could be receiving more as it continues to achieve goals in the state’s sustainability system. Some of these goals include electrifying its buildings, rather than rely on fossil fuels, and promoting renewable energy and renewable home infrastructure among its residents. 

Chris Skawski, the Clean Energy Communities coordinator at Cornell Cooperative Extension, presented the potential grant opportunities to board members at the June 25 town board meeting. The meeting can be viewed here; discussion of the grants starts at around minute 16: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alBlPjqVDZA&t=169s.

Skawski said that the grant program focuses on municipal energy needs and has previously helped the town pay for heat pump installation at the town hall. If the town chooses to apply for the two grants totaling $60,000, town officials need to outline how the money would be spent by the end of August. The funding, Skawski noted, is allocated on a first come, first served basis. 

Out of that potential pool of funds, $10,000 can be spent as soon as the money is awarded, he added. The rest would require the town to enter a contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), which binds the town to spend the money in the next three years.

“It doesn’t change any of the steps, but that contract makes things take longer to get underway,” Skawski added.

To submit grant proposals, the town would have to submit at least one quote from a qualified contractor who can do the work.

“We turn in a grant workbook that’s got some metrics about what the project is going to be,” Skawski said. “We don’t need anything shovel ready; we just need to have something scoped.”

Town officials came to a consensus by the end of the discussion to use the money to pay for heat pumps that would help heat and cool the office area at the highway department’s barn in Ulysses. 

“We’re concerned about the systems are failing there,” said Town Supervisor Katelin Olson. “We don’t want our crew to be popsicles in January.”

On Skawski’s suggestion, the town could also upgrade the vehicle that is allocated for code enforcement inspectors and purchase an electric vehicle. Olson said she wanted to ensure the vehicle would have four-wheel drive, as inspectors often must assess property conditions at structures that are down- or uphill.

“I would say that I have always been in favor of electric vehicles. I just want the town to get the town what it needs,” she noted. “Code vehicles will need to be replaced with something that is not a $30k two-wheel vehicle.”

The town already has $5,000 from this grant program that Roxanne Marino, chair of the town’s Conservation and Sustainability Advisory Council, said has gone into a clean energy fund for the town to use on green projects.

Olson noted that she would like to use funds from the grants to conduct a study to see what environmentally sustainable projects the town can set in motion. Through the Climate Energy Communities program, the town could hit enough benchmark metrics to receive one for free down the line, Skawski said.

Skawski said that his role at Cornell Cooperative Extension allows him to help municipalities like Ulysses coordinate grant applications and help with clerical paperwork, and also advise communities on how to attain and spend grant money from the state.

Ulysses Connection appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com. Contact Eddie Velazquez at edvel37@gmail.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @ezvelazquez.

In brief:

The Ulysses Philomathic Library begins its Summer Reading Program with a kickoff party at Ice Cream Bar on July 6 from noon to 2 p.m.

Anyone up to 18 years old can register for the program and earn a free book to keep. Throughout the summer, participants can report on what they are reading by drawing or writing about a book they read. Each time they submit a reading report, they will earn another book.

Interested parties can sign up here: https://forms.gle/HESovsUy8AVECya17.