CGA Workgroup Feedback 2014

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Question Title

* 1. Do you plan to attend the 2014 Common Ground Alliance in Long Lake on July 16?

Yes

Not Sure

Question Title

* 2. Help us pick the right topics for workgroups at the 2014 Forum on July 16.

Pick only 5 from the following long list of possibilities. At least 2 should be topics you want to work with at the Forum if you are coming.

The topics are NOT listed in any special order, so read the whole list before you pick your 5 choices.

REMEMBER: You are picking topics for the Forum workgroups. What can benefit from small group discussion in the limited time at the Forum? For example, you can leave out topics already being covered well. What topics not being worked on need a boost?

------------------------------------PLEASE SELECT NO MORE THAN 5----------------------------------------------

Transportation 1: Infrastructure improvements, adapting to climate change, increasing shared transportation usage, strategies for lowering carbon footprint, airport upgrades.

Transportation 2: What is the issue with oil trains along Lake Champlain and would double tracking help with safety? It would surely help with passenger rail service.

Environment 1: State Land Master Plan update, including discussion related to landscape scale planning

Environment 2: What should be the Adirondack response to climate change? Remembering Irene, more communities working on resiliency –what does that mean here? What would a common ground approach to the topic look like? What would success look like?

Water Quality 1: Thwarting invasive species

Water Quality 2: Storm water management and road salt

Water Quality 3: Waste water treatment and infrastructure funding

Water Quality 4: Remaining acid rain issues

Economic Development 1: Arts, Culture & Heritage as drivers of Park revitalization

Economic Development 2: Community Economic Development – implementing the work of the Adirondack Partnership Economic Strategies effort led by Riverstreet

Economic Development 3: Recreation/Destination planning: How can communities benefit from sustainable tourism? The 5 towns example.

Economic Development 4: How can we be better at telling our story and creating a regional identity?

Economic Development 5: Backing off the back country, promoting hamlet life, clustering, Hamlets 3, smart growth, Transferrable Development Rights, Main Street Revitalization, pedestrian and bike friendly communities, etc.

Economic Development 6: Strategies for increasing diversity in Park communities

Economic Development 7: Strategies for attracting early retirees

Economic Development 8: Local food - scaling up this sector, meat, produce, dairies, distribution, micro brewers, micro distillers, wine

Economic Development 9: Financing innovations for small business. Attracting new startups, leveraging StartupNY

Economic Development 10: How is broadband deployment and telework developing? Where is progress being made, or not?

Economic Development 11: How do the 3 REDC Regions and their plans impact the Park? Are they well enough coordinated and aligned?

Economic Development 12: How do we enhance the stability of agriculture and forest industries along with the economic contribution and open space stewardship they provide?

Energy 1: Renewable Energy A (solar, community net metering (Senate4722), geothermal, energy conservation)

Energy 2: Renewable Energy B (increasing use of biomass for heating). How do we get the big buildings to switch to biomass? Homes?

Energy 3: Economics and environmental issues related to sustainable industrial production of wood for thermal heat energy while increasing production

Energy 4: Develop a plan and bid to become a micro-grid (a regional smart grid)

Healthcare 1: How to handle primary care and elder care-what is the result of the ‘North Country Health Systems Redesign Commission and should CGA support it?

Healthcare 2: Health care as a growth opportunity: spa, rejuvenation, rehab centers

Education1: Keeping our small schools while making them affordable for our communities

Education 2: Education & poverty, the interactions. Budget issues in rural schools.

Education 3: Raise awareness of early childhood importance, coordination among parents, trainer and nurses. Advocate for policy changes and find increased funding.

Affordable Housing 1: Workforce/Community affordable housing.

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 3. LEGISLATIVE AGENDA PRIORITIES

Reader: CGA’s over-arching message is to acknowledge that climate change is driving costly and critical initiatives at many levels of government: local, regional, state, national and international - and these projects will help the Adirondacks.

Take a minute to help the Core Team, and please rank order the following items by priority.

The list as shown is not intended to reflect any prioritization, but they are grouped by topic. Rank the 14 specific items, not the general topic headings. We know prioritizing so many, and across categories, is hard to do, take your time.

Start with this: If you could only do one item, pick it as #1. Put the last thing you would do, or an item you want to drop, pick it as #14. Repeat for #2, then #13 and so on.

Environment 1: Increase funding and partner as needed to push back harder on invasive species. Get creative: Use existing I-87 truck inspection stations for mandatory boat inspection and washing ‘when the lights are flashing’.

Environment 2: Allocate more funds to storm water management infrastructure, drinking water and sewers.

Environment 3: NYS should find multiple ways to assist farm transfers to young people. More open space easements for farms, for example.

Economic Development 1: Create an inter-regional REDC sub-council, with one or more members from each of the 3 regions. It isn’t a new council, it is a subset of the three and part of that system.

Economic Development 2: Fund broadband deployment in the region and increase funding for training and workforce development that help people, businesses and communities to get economic benefit from new broadband services

Land Use Management 1: Author, pass and implement a successful TDR system (Transferrable Development Rights). Build on past work.

Land Use Management 2: Revisit the SLMP and fund implementation of ‘complex’ or ‘landscape’ planning, do 5 regions in the Park. Work on how hamlets connect to trail systems, also inter-regional and inter-hamlet connections. Avoid treating State land parcels in isolation.

Land Use Management 3: Work on an amendment to allow buried utilities under road ROWs and a community small project land bank.

Energy Strategy 1: Pass Community Net Metering (S4722) and bring the option of solar panels to people with homes in the forest, hamlets and villages

Energy Strategy 2: Bring more resources to the Park to build smart, safe, biomass heating systems in most large buildings, while also assuring the sustainable management of our industrial forests

Energy Strategy 3: Bring together a team to submit a bid for a regional smart grid grant

Transportation 1: Address rail safety needs re oil trains along Lake Champlain, support double tracking the whole route. It would make excellent rail service to/from NYC and Montreal possible.

Transportation 2: Support development of scheduled air access to all the airports, especially Plattsburgh’s success.

Health System 1: Support the plan proposed by the North Country Heath Systems Redesign Commission. LINK: https://www.health.ny.gov/facilities/north_country_health_systems/docs/north_country_report.pdf