As described on the NYS website, “Climate Smart Communities (CSC) is a New York State program that helps local governments take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a changing climate. The program offers free technical assistance, grants, and rebates for electric vehicles.”
Here is a PowerPoint with a presentation made to the Kirkland Town Board in January of 2020 describing the Climate Smart Communities program in more detail.
The Village was the first to adopt the New York State Climate Smart Communities pledge and is now a registered community within this program. The Village resolution was passed in March 2020.
The Town of Kirkland also became a registered CSC community with a resolution adopted in May 2020.
After registering, there are a variety of actions the Village and the Town can take, each of which will be awarded a certain number of points. As more actions are completed, a community can achieve a bronze, silver, or gold level of certification. The list of possible actions is shown here (PDF). Since the Village is within the Town, there is potential synergy in coordinating the implementation of the various CSC actions. Actions currently completed or planned are shown here.
One of the actions is to create a task force to help and advise in carrying out the other actions. A joint, common, all-volunteer task force for both the Village and the Town has been created and has been recognized both by the Village and by the Town. The Coordinator of this task force is Alma Lowry.
As of January 31, 2024, the application for the Village has been formally submitted. After review by the state, the village has, as of June, 2024, been certified as having achieved the bronze level. See the DEC press release here. Currently, the Town is still working to complete its own application.