The Town of Hyde Park is Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- 2007 — Zoning for protections of natural areas. Hyde Park has a Conservation design subdivision. Conservation design subdivisions are very low density subdivisions in which the average lot size is 10 acres or more. These help to preserve open space by keeping large amounts of land undeveloped. As an incentive to creating such subdivisions in the Greenbelt and Waterfront Districts, Town road construction requirements and frontage requirements may be waived.
Giving out LED light bulbs.
- 2010 - 2014 — Tree planting at all HP schools. The total coverage of all of the projects is approximately 40,750 square feet.
- 2016 — Participate in Solarize Northern Dutchess campaign to encourage private rooftop solar.
- Community Garden
- Natural Resources Inventory.
- 2021 — Community Solar outreach program. After signing up 10 people the town received a $5,000 grant.
- 2018 — Joining the "Hudson 7", the seven communities who draw their drinking water from the Hudson River. The Hudson 7 mission is to protect our collective water supply through planning, advocacy and action.
- 2020 — EV charging station installed, paid for by NYS grants.
- 2020 — Town of Hyde Park Road-Stream Crossing Inventory.
- 2021 — Town vehicle fleet inventory.
- 2021 — Recycling bins at all town facilities.
- 2021 — Establish town environment fund. This fund receives money from a referral fee each time a Hyde Park resident opts in to community solar by way of the Hyde Park Community Solar campaign. With the fund we have:
- Purchased LED lightbulbs to be distributed free at community events.
- Our next action — Purchase electric landscape maintenance equipments to be used at town properties.
- 2021 — Establish municipal composting program for leaves.
- 2021 — Procure community solar electricity for town operations, to lower town costs and save greenhouses gasses.
- 2021 — Climate vulnerability assessment. Town of Hyde Park participated in a Community Resilience Building Workshop with the City of Poughkeepsie.
- 2021 — Climate resiliency Planning. The Town of Hyde Park in completing the Climate Smart Resiliency Planning Tool as part of the Community Resilience Building Workshop with the City of Poughkeepsie.
- 2017 - 2023 — Major streetscape upgrade adding sidewalks along the east side of Rt 9.
- 2022 — Receive Bronze Certification as a Climate Smart Community. 1 of 118 towns in the State, 1 of 10 towns in Dutchess County.
- 2023 — Improve and expand bike trails.
- 2023 — Work to develop solar energy on the town landfill, turning unproductive land into a revenue source for the town and a source of clean energy for it's citizens.
- 2023 — Start Repair Cafes in the town.
- 2023 — Prepare the town for the transition to electric vehicles by installing additional charging infrastructure, both at town and private property.
- Ongoing — Climate-related public outreach events, and informational postings on our website and Facebook page.
- Future — LED Streetlight replacement.
- Future — Investigate Community Choice Aggregation to lower electric bills for town residents, and use renewable energy.
Now, the task is to further reduce energy use, reduce energy cost and reduce greenhouse emissions. Here's what you can do.
