NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Hudson River Valley Greenway Awards $232,775 in Grants
Funding to Support Trails Planning, Public Access, and Community Revitalization
Twenty-one Hudson Valley communities received a total of $232,775 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 to apply for the Greenway Grants Program is November 8, 2019.
“These twenty-one projects will shape future growth and preservation in these communities, help to improve walkability, and provide an opportunity for interpretation of historic sites. The Greenway is excited to make these awards to assist in improving these communities,” said Scott Keller, Executive Director of the Hudson River Valley Greenway.
The following projects will be supported by the Hudson River Valley Greenway Grant Program:
$10,000 to the Town of Bethlehem, Albany County, to update their comprehensive plan.
$10,000 to the Town of Rensselaerville, Albany County, to conduct a needs assessment to encourage rural and urban linkages in the Capital District.
$8,500 to the Town of Gallatin, Columbia County, to update their comprehensive plan.
$10,000 to the Village of Kinderhook, Columbia County, to conduct a recreational resource inventory.
$10,000 to the Village of Valatie, Columbia County, to develop a shoreline resiliency plan for the Kinderhook Creek.
$20,000 to the Town of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, to update their comprehensive plan.
$6,375 to the Town of Union Vale, Dutchess County, to update their master plan.
$9,900 to the Village of Athens, Greene County, to update their combined comprehensive plan with the Town of Athens.
$10,000 to the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson, Orange County, to update their comprehensive plan.
$15,000 to the Town of Philipstown, Putnam County, to update their comprehensive plan.
$10,000 to the Village of New Hempstead, Rockland County, to update their comprehensive plan.
$10,000 to the Village of Piermont, Rockland County, to develop a sustainability action plan for the village.
$10,000 to the Town of Esopus, Ulster County, to update their local land use law.
$10,000 to the Town of Marbletown, Ulster County, to develop a hamlet plan for historic High Falls.
$10,000 to the Town of Saugerties, Ulster County, to update a combined comprehensive plan in collaboration with the Village of Saugerties and implement zoning law revisions.
$15,000 to the Village of New Paltz, Ulster County, to conduct an analysis on the impacts of climate change on necessary water reservoir capacity.
$10,000 to the Town of Plattekill, Ulster County, to update their comprehensive plan.
$10,000 to the Town of Greenwich, Washington County, to update their town’s stewardship plan.
$10,000 to the Village of Greenwich, Washington County, for signage and maps to promote the Battenkill as a tourism destination.
$10,000 to the Village of Whitehall, Washington County, to update their comprehensive plan.
$18,000 to the Village of Ossining, Westchester County, to update their comprehensive plan.
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.
