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Yellow Wood Associates Presents Green Building Options to the Town of Franklin, New York February 16, 2007 - On February 5, 2007, Yellow Wood Associates presented its final report to the Town of Franklin, New York on how to proceed with its buildings, using a Green Community TechnologiesSM approach. Green Community TechnologiesSM is a service provided exclusively by Yellow Wood Associates to help rural communities make choices about their infrastructure that will save money, improve municipal service delivery, and create jobs. The Town of Franklin was interested in the Green Community TechnologiesSM process as a way to help determine how to proceed with its buildings in a manner that will meet the immediate and long-term needs of the community while addressing regulatory compliance issues, minimizing costs of construction, operations, and maintenance, and reducing or eliminating negative environmental impacts. In assisting the Town, Yellow Wood’s goal was to help maximize the use of existing assets and minimize the amount of new construction required to meet Town goals. Franklin was the first town in New York to be involved in the Green Community TechnologiesSM process. Yellow Wood looked into conditions and desired uses for four buildings: Merrillsville Town Hall, Municipal Garage, Vermontville Town Hall, and a proposed new building for Kate Mountain. The detailed final report is available at the Franklin Town Offices and includes a report on findings and recommendations for Franklin’s buildings, a companion report on green building options relevant to Kate Mountain and Vermontville, and additional supporting materials. Yellow Wood’s final report included cost estimates for new construction as well as renovations, as well as a recommended schedule for phasing of building work. Town officials were pleased with the fruits of this partnership. Terry Martino, a town resident and Executive Director of the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA), commented, "I think it’s great that the town board has gone through this process. You had a lot of questions and now you have a blueprint for action." Walter Kretser, member of the Franklin Building Committee, stated, "I think you’re providing some excellent direction for us. Until this, we didn’t even know what we were up against. You really did a wonderful job. We appreciate it. You folks have put us in the right direction." Mary Ellen Keith, Town Supervisor, explained: "Buildings are the only service we have other than highways for our people. It’s been 25 years since there have been any upgrades to accommodate our needs. And these structures have been and will continue to be used for a wide variety of activities. Doing this study has given us a resource to look at how to meet the current and future needs of our town. We will explore every avenue for financial assistance, because we’ve got to think about the cost to the town, but the time has come to do something and we believe incorporating energy efficiency and green building components is key." Green Community TechnologiesSM is a process developed by Yellow Wood Associates for helping rural municipalities inventory their assets and assess the potential for applying sound alternative technologies to those assets. Yellow Wood takes a systems approach to cataloging a municipality’s infrastructure assets and then helps decision makers find sustainable solutions for their most pressing needs. Green Community TechnologiesSM is a win-win process for local communities and for agencies and organizations pushing for sustainability. ANCA and Yellow Wood hope to involve other communities in this type of planning. The Adirondack North Country Association is committed to economically viable communities and a rural quality of life. Yellow Wood Associates, Inc. is a private firm located in St. Albans, Vermont, specializing in rural economic development research and training for community capacity building. For more information about using the Green Community TechnologiesSM program in New York, contact ANCA at (518) 891-6200 and www.adirondack.org or Shanna Ratner, Yellow Wood at (802) 524-6141 and www.yellowwood.org. Terry Martino can be reached at anca-martino@northnet.org. |
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