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Community Corner

Rye Sustainability Group Moving Forward With Plan

New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson and Jay Heritage Center President Suzanne Clary shared lessons learned about sustainability at an open forum Thursday night.

After Thursday night's successful public forum, the Rye Sustainability Committee is ready to kick off the work of drafting a real plan for the City of Rye. Convened in October 2010, the group has been tasked with researching, reporting and recommending a plan for the city’s future.

“An institutionalized plan signals Rye means business,” said Rye sustainability committee member Sara Goddard.

More than 40 people, including Rye Mayor Doug French and Councilmember Suzanna Keith, were on hand at the Rye Free Reading Room to discuss how community volunteers could work with city government to shape the direction and intent of a broad range of sustainability goals in the future. 

New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, Jay Heritage Center President Suzanne Clary, and Goddard were the featured speakers of the evening.

Bramson and Clary provided examples of sustainability planning, and Goddard gave next steps for the Rye committee.

Bramson walked through New Rochelle’s rationale and process to provide an example for government planning. Clary talked about Jay Heritage Center’s recent geo-thermal system installation as an example of adapting existing institutions to new values and technologies.

“If it isn’t sustainable, eventually it will collapse,” explained Bramson, who discussed New Rochelle’s experiences and lessons developing greenNR, the city’s new blueprint for its environmental future.

New Rochelle, along with Newark, N.J. and Miami-Dade, were chosen in January 2009 by ICLEI (International Council for Local  Environmental Initiatives) , as a pilot community for its Sustainability Planning Toolkit process. The organization consists of over 200 local governments in 43 countries and provides technical support training and information services for sustainable development, according to its website. 

“While sustainability can be a buzzword, it’s simply about addressing the needs of the present without compromising the resources of the future,” Bramson said.

Bramson said New Rochelle’s approach was “goals and principles, not commitments and laws.” GreenNR offers 43 initiatives in the following six areas: resource conservation and waste reduction; ecology, biodiversity and public health; smart growth and economic prosperity; transportation and mobility; and public participation and awareness.  

The purpose of greenNR went beyond setting benchmarks for measuring past, present and future actions, explained the visiting mayor. Identifying local needs was also a primary use of the process, including economic development, job creation, growth planning and cost saving.

While New Rochelle and Rye may have very different needs, values and desired outcomes, Bramson said the process his city followed was one that Rye could follow to identify its own plan.

Clary said Jay Heritage Center “is not just a historic site, but a green site.”
She explained that the decision to install a geothermal system was about “proving there could be a successful fit between 21st century design and a 19th century structure.” The project created jobs, will hopefully generate additional green tourism, and have a positive impact on the natural environment surrounding the facility. Education was one of the most important outcomes, according to Clary.

By making changes to Jay Heritage Center, Clary said she hoped Rye residents and other institutions would be inspired to take steps of their own. Rather than perfection, improvement should be the goal.

“Try to do as much as you can,” said Clary. “Because doing something is better than doing nothing.”

Jay Heritage Center is now the oldest historic landmark in the state and the first in Westchester County with a geothermal system. The technology harnesses the Earth’s underground temperature to regulate water temperature in a closed loop system and is adaptable to residences.

After six months of researching and networking, the sustainability committee is now ready to start the process of actually developing a formal document. Goddard said she hoped efforts like "road show" presentations to small groups and possibly an expo-style event would go a long way to bring more community members up to speed and on board with the efforts to plan Rye's future.

Rye council member Suzanna Keith asked members of the community to  give feedback to the committee by email - ryesustainability@gmail.com - and to learn more about on the ryeny.gov website.

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