December 12, 2022
The New York Department of State (DOS) today announced the Jefferson County towns of Adams and Wilna and villages of Adams, Carthage, Deferiet, Sackets Harbor, and West Carthage have received awards totaling $314,291 for their efforts to achieve cost savings through streetlight replacement and subsequent upgrade to newer, energy-efficient LED fixtures.
“This streetlight improvement project is much more than changing lightbulbs. It’s creating a cleaner and greener future,” said Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez. “Once again, County-Wide Shared Services is showing results for communities to save taxpayer money and to create a partnership between two North Country counties and the New York Power Authority which is an example of good government in action.”
This effort is part of a 2020 County Wide Shared Services Initiative (CWSSI) plan and through a partnership with the New York State Power Authority and municipalities in neighboring Lewis County. Previously, it was announced municipalities in Lewis County had received $144,303 for their efforts on the measure.
The award breakdown by municipality includes:
Town of Adams – $19,147
Town of Wilna – $19,380.50
Village of Adams – $44,598.50
Village of Deferiet – $16,111.50
Village of Carthage – $108,344
Village of Sackets Harbor – $59,309
Village of West Carthage – $47,400.50
NYPA Interim President and CEO Justin E. Driscoll said, "The Power Authority’s partnership with DOS and Jefferson County municipalities builds on the overwhelming success of Smart Street Lighting NY since it was announced in 2018. The initiative has led to the replacement of hundreds of thousands of lighting fixtures in municipalities across New York with SMART LED technology, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving safety and saving tax dollars.”
Jefferson County Administrator Robert Hagemann said, “I would like to congratulate two towns and five villages for their foresight in joining forces through NYS’s Shared Services Initiative to develop a state-of-the-art LED Street Lighting program in their respective communities that promises to enhance their street lighting capacities while also saving thousands of dollars in energy costs in the years to come,” I would also like to extend my sincerest appreciation to those who helped transform an idea into an award by the New York State Department of State. A most impressive team effort undertaken more than three years ago that has now turned into a benefit for local residents to experience for decades to come!!”
The new LED streetlights will do more than simply lower energy costs. In 2019, DOS announced that its support for the project with a $291,220 Local Government Efficiency grant to the Village of West Carthage to collaborate with municipalities in Lewis and Jefferson Counties to add asset management nodes to the new fixtures. The installation of these nodes will improve the municipalities’ ability to obtain various data sets in real time and improve technical abilities. The towns and villages will now be able to track critical information such as cameras, temperature and humidity, noise, pressure, Wi-Fi and GPS. They will also have the ability to adjust brightness of the lights based on conditions from remote locations.
The CWSSI generates property tax savings by facilitating collaboration between local governments across the state. Over the last five years, the CWSSI program has supported over 100 shared services projects in 30 counties, generating nearly $36 million in savings to local governments and taxpayers. CWSSI expands on New York State’s ongoing commitment to reduce property taxes and modernize local government services by fostering new shared services and enhancing the existing collaborations already in place.
Guidance documents regarding the CWSSI and state match application process, as well as past CWSSI plans, are available here.
The County-Wide Services Initiative is administered by the Division of Local Government Services at the Department of State. The Division provides technical assistance and competitive grants to local governments. For more information on CWSSI or any programs administered by the Division, please contact [email protected] or call 518 473-3355.