Courtesy Jeff Flagg (2021)
Jeff Flagg
Jeff Flagg has been a “sustainability consultant” to Glens Falls over the past three years, and as the newly appointed Economic Development Director in Glens Falls, he says much of the focus will remain on how best to work with sustainability and economic development together.
He called sustainability and economic development “two sides of the same coin” during an interview yesterday, and said that “for the next several decades,” the CLCPA will be one element guiding development. The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of New York mandates that the state will be carbon neutral by 2050.
Buildings and other large-scale development projects that will last at least 30 years should have CLCPA in mind, he said. It makes no sense otherwise to do something that might burden the city with problems in 10 or 20 years.
“You need to keep that in focus as you’re doing any capital projects,” Flagg said.
One potential "juggling act" he sees is that the city was awarded a $10 million grant, the Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant, in 2017. The CLCPA became law in 2019. He said this is something to keep an eye on as the city moves forward with projects such as the farmers market on South Street, one project that is part of the DRI grant. He admitted, however, that this is just a consideration of his as he has been less active in the past on the DRI, and does not yet know all the details. He has been much more involved on some other projects, he said.
His first priority will be to make sure projects that are underway continue to move forward. This was a charge put upon him, also, by Mayor Dan Hall in the resolution authorizing his employment. He has been instrumental in running these projects, winning grants to fund them, or both.
A project that could bring indoor farming to Glens Falls is moving forward, though slowly, he said, and a grant-funded project that plans to convert streetlights to high-efficiency units is well underway with installation expected this spring. Another grant that is tied to the lighting project will help Glens Falls set-up a “smart-city” network which will allow the city to control any number of digital devices, such as parking space sensors that can help people find an open space and water-level sensors in areas prone to flooding.
Glens Falls is also working on an expansion of its broadband network, and he will have a hand in that, too.
He says the idea behind sustainable economic growth is that “as a community, you’re doing well while doing good.”
He takes over in the role that Ed Bartholomew held before his death last year. The position comes with an office in City Hall and pays $65,000 per year. The Glens Falls City Council approved his appointment on Tuesday Jan. 26. He starts Monday Feb. 1.
Editor's note: a few modest changes were made to this story after publication. After a consultation with the subject and the notes from the interivew.