NRDC Board Appointment

I am pleased to announce my appointment to the Board of Directors for the North Country Rural Development Coalition (NRDC) this past Monday evening. NRDC is a driving force behind regional growth, spearheading Ticonderoga’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) and guiding the Town of Jay along that same revitalization roadmap as we prepare to submit our NY Forward/DRI application this fall. In addition to administering Jay’s active $300,000 CDBG Home Restoration Grant, NRDC runs the Essex County Landbank, which is advancing key local housing initiatives, including a new home in Upper Jay in 2024, two new Move-In NY Cross Mods in Jay later this summer, and a home rehabilitation project in Au Sable Forks over the upcoming winter.

NRDC is currently administering our $315,000 Main Street Grant program, with initial awards set to be announced soon. Applications remain open on a rolling basis for property and business owners in Au Sable Forks, offering grants covering up to 75 percent of project costs (up to $50,000) for facade upgrades, signage, interior renovations, and site improvements. If you have an eligible project in mind, please fill out the application at: https://form.jotform.com/260533632652151 or reach out directly to Katie at klong@northcountryruraldevelopment.org.

 

Additional Public Wi-Fi & EV Chargers Operational

Public Wi-Fi is now live at both the Jay Village Green and the new Upper Jay parking lot. This infrastructure upgrade provides free, reliable connectivity for residents, remote workers, and visitors enjoying our public spaces. This expansion builds upon the public Wi-Fi already available at the Grove Athletic Facility, the Community Center, and Riverside Park.

Bringing this network online has also unlocked full functionality for our electric vehicle infrastructure. With the Wi-Fi connection now established, the EV charging stations at both new locations are officially fully operational and ready for public use. We are bringing these modernized amenities to the Town of Jay as we continue working to upgrade local facilities, support sustainable energy, and better serve our community.

 

Locally Grown Community Event

The Essex County Health Department and BHSN Healthy Families North Country are hosting “Locally Grown,” a wonderful community-wide baby shower. Designed to support expecting parents and families with infants under one year old, this year’s event takes place on Thursday, August 6th, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at Edgemont Barns in Moriah. The event features valuable local resources, car seat safety checks, lactation support, a photo station, and consultations with public health nurses.

This is an impactful program for growing families, and I am actively working to bring a “Locally Grown” event directly to the Town of Jay next year. In the meantime, I encourage all of our local expecting and new parents to take advantage of this August gathering. You can register using the QR code on the attached flyer or by contacting Liz Terry at 518-873-3857.

 

Thank You to AVCS!

A huge thank you goes out to Kyle Roberts and Randy Pray from AVCS for helping line our soccer fields at the Grove for the upcoming Youth Soccer season. This task usually takes a few people an entire day or more to lay out and mark manually. However, in partnership with AVCS and their GPS-enabled lining machine, we were able to complete the initial setup in just a couple of hours. Moving forward, the machine will allow them to re-mark both fields in under an hour. Thank you for offering your time and resources to help!

 

I hope you have a great weekend,

Matt