Greenway Awards $167,100 in Grants

Sixteen Hudson Valley communities received a total of $167,100 in matching grants from the Hudson River Valley Greenway for projects that will help update zoning and comprehensive plans, create trails, and provide interpretation at historically significant sites. The grants were awarded by the Hudson River Valley Greenway Board of Directors at recent meetings.

The Hudson River Valley Greenway Grant Program provides funding to participating Greenway Communities to further a regional planning strategy consistent with the five Greenway criteria: regional planning, natural and cultural resource protection, economic development, public access, and heritage and environmental education. The next deadline for Greenway Grants Program is August 10, 2018.

“These eighteen projects will help to improve walkability, provide an opportunity for interpretation of historic sites, and shape future growth and preservation in these communities. The Greenway is pleased to make these awards to assist in improving these communities,” said Scott Keller, Acting Executive Director of the Hudson River Valley Greenway.

The following projects will be supported by the Hudson River Valley Greenway Grant Program:

• $9,900 to the Village of Menands, Albany County, to develop a local waterfront revitalization strategy and comprehensive plan.
• $10,000 to the Village of Pawling, Dutchess County, to update their comprehensive plan.
• $7,200 to the Town of Pine Plains, Dutchess County, to update their comprehensive plan.
• $4,000 to the City of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, to conduct an archaeological survey on a parcel of land on Pershing Avenue, with the goal of turning it into a community farm and educational center in an urban area that features high poverty and is a food desert.
• $25,000 to the Town of North East with the Village of Millerton, Dutchess County, to update the town and village combined comprehensive plan.
• $10,000 to the Town of Red Hook, Dutchess County, to update their zoning laws to include natural resource protections.
• $10,000 to the Town of Durham, Greene County, to update their comprehensive plan.
• $10,000 to the Town of Greenville, Greene County, to make improvements to their Vanderbilt Park.
• $10,000 to the City of Port Jervis, Orange County, to analyze and identify gaps in their zoning.
• $10,000 to the Town of Halfmoon, Saratoga County, to improve public access and amenities at their Vosburgh Road Preserve
• $10,000 to the Town of Saratoga, Saratoga County, to build the Garnsey Trailhead on the Sword Surrender March Trail, which will become a part of the Greenway and Empire State Trail systems.
• $5,000 to the Village of Victory, Saratoga County, to make improvements to their General Schuyler Saw Mill Park.
• $7,500 to the Town of Esopus, Ulster County, to conduct an environmental survey on the John Burroughs Black Creek Trail.
• $5,000 to the Town of Marlborough, Ulster County, for the first phase of a conceptual master plan for the Marlboro Mills Waterfalls Walkway trail. 
• $10,000 to the Town of Shawangunk, Ulster County, to update the town’s waterfront and comprehensive plan.
• $15,000 to the Town of Wawarsing with the Village of Ellenville, Ulster County, to develop a revitalization plan for the Berme Road Park.
• $2,500 to the Town of Fort Edward, Washington County, to pay for a market analysis of an important birding center that hosts many migratory birds. The study area includes the largest grasslands in Eastern New York.
• $6,000 to the Town of Salem, Washington County, to improve public access to the Battenkill River at their Georgi Museum and Park.

The Hudson River Valley Greenway is a unique state-sponsored program established by the Greenway Act of 1991. More than 84% of municipalities within the Greenway area have designated themselves as “Greenway Communities.” The program is designed to encourage projects and initiatives related to the intersecting goals of natural and cultural resource protection, regional planning, economic development, public access, and heritage and environmental education.  It provides technical assistance and catalytic grant funding for planning, water and land trails, and other projects that reinforce these goals. In keeping with the New York tradition of home rule, the Greenway program has no regulatory authority and participation by municipalities in Greenway programs and projects is entirely voluntary. The Greenway also manages the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area in partnership with the National Park Service.