...thank goodness 2020 is in the rearview mirror

Public outreach for Census 2020 was one of the department's most important projects last year, as we created, revised, and attempted to execute outreach plans that were in continual flux due to the pandemic.

Despite the challenges, we are hopeful our efforts encouraged response from residents who may otherwise have not participated. Apportionment figures are expected in the next couple of months.

 GF middle school census video 

 Nonprofit census video 

Warren County became one of only 55 bronze certified Climate Smart Communities in the state, thanks to the hard work of department staff.

Activities that qualified Warren County for this certification, which assists in the County's qualification for future grant funding, include:

• Development of a vulnerability assessment
• Development of adaption climate strategies
• Adopting the New York State Solar Permit
• Establishing a financial project for building energy efficiency

 Read an Adirondack Explorer article about the County's certification here. 

 Read more about the State's Climate Smart program here. 

Hand in hand with our Climate Smart certification, the Planning Department completed a Building Energy Benchmarking Report in September 2020, detailing square footage, annual energy cost, electricity and natural gas use, and total greenhouse gas emissions for 29 county owned buildings.

Referrals to the County for planning board review were down by 29 projects over 2019. Department staff reviewed 260 applications, including 125 site plans and 107 area variances.

Lake George overtook Bolton for second place, with the most projects referred after the Town of Queensbury.

 Click here for the full 2020 report .

The Covid Hub launched in April to provide a centralized location for up-to-date Covid information from Public Health, as well as resources for residents, businesses and visitors, as we all coped with the pandemic.

The hub has had over 200,000 views since its inception and currently averages over 4,000 views a day. It has become a go-to source for up-to-date information on the pandemic for our county residents.

The Department made good progress on our infrastructure mapping in 2020. Staff converted all existing water and sewer data in the County to GIS format and printed new maps for each town. We hope to train town staff to maintain this data in the field in 2021. We also developed a culvert field data collection app for Soil and Water.

In addition, GIS staff converted County DPW's full sign inventory to GIS format. More to come on this huge project soon!

The Planning Department finished up the bulk of the projects included in our 2017 DEC Smart Growth grant award, including the installation of the new panels in the Lake George Visitors' Center in February, continuing work on the Letterboxing Trail, and managing social media content for the First Wilderness.

The Letterboxing Trail had a delayed launch due to the pandemic, but we look forward to rolling it out in 2021. Stay tuned!

 First Wilderness Instagram 

 First Wilderness Facebook 

 Town Sell Sheets 

The Planning Department managed projects for three LWRP grant awards for Lake George and one for Schroon Lake. Projects for the 2012 and 2014 grant awards were fully completed and closed out.

Projects included:

•  Implementing green infrastructure projects on two roads near the Lake George headwaters 
•  Invasive Species Inspections and Boat Wash Stations 
•  Assessing the Economic Value of Clean Water in Lake George 
•  Best Management Practices for Salt Reduction 
•  Milfoil Eradication 
•  Assessing the Benefits of the West Brook Project 

 Additional reports for Lake George and Schroon Lake projects can be found here. 

In addition to completing the two LWRP Lake George grant award projects described above, department staff also closed out the LWRP First Wilderness grant award from 2014.

Projects completed as part of this grant awards included:

•  Map and Plan Report of North Creek Sewer 
•  Corridor Market Study 
•  Chestertown to Pottersville Trail Study 
•  Stony Creek Community Center Design 

Staff continued work on the three additional First Wilderness LWRP grant awards and sought extensions of the 2013 and 2015 awards due to delays caused by the pandemic.

Planning Department staff facilitated the final closeout process with the NYS Housing Trust Fund Corporation (HTFC) for the funding awards related to the Countryside Adult Home.

The Project activities included the installation of a wastewater connection to the Town of Warrensburg’s Wastewater System and a Building Assessment Study.

 Click here for the Building Assessment Study 

The Warren County Planning Department is assisting the Town of Queensbury and partnering communities around Lake George to update the Watershed Plan for Lake George. The Plan will include an inventory and analysis of watershed assets and conditions; assessments of local laws and programs, recommendations for restoration and protection of water quality; and an implementation strategy.

The town has partnered with the Lake George Lake Champlain Regional Planning Board to develop the plan. The process is underway and will continue through the spring and summer of 2021.

The development of Housing Market Study was initiated as a joint effort between EDC Warren County and the Warren County LDC. Funding has been made available by these organizations to secure the services of a Market Analyst identified by the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

It is the intent of the Study to determine the market for new housing construction within the rural communities. County Planning staff initiated the collection of information for preparing the Request for Proposal.

Department staff created a website and process for developing and implementing Capital Improvement Planning for the county, along with creating a set of project inventory dashboards that can be used to submit, review, and track Capital Improvement projects throughout the county.

Much more on this to come in 2021!

One unexpected blessing of the pandemic was our extensive collaboration with local and regional organizations - some of these long established connections, and some new.

We're looking forward to continuing our work with these partners in the coming years.