Area agencies to get $4m for home weatherization

Hundreds of homes could be weatherized with just over $4 million in funds coming to the north country from the recently passed federal stimulus package.

The Community Action Planning Council of Jefferson County, St. Lawrence Community Development Program and Lewis County Opportunities will receive $1,664,797, $1,993,329, and $457,140 respectively.

The U.S. Department of Energy Weatherization Assistance Program will distribute $5 billion to the states under the stimulus plan, with $394,686,513 going to New York.

The three north country agencies are still awaiting their contracts, but they are expected soon from the Energy Department.

Some agencies expect to see the number of weatherized homes double, or even triple, over the next couple of years thanks to the extra funding.

"With our money almost tripling, you can see the numbers will generate another couple hundred homes a year," said Kenneth K. Flint, CAPC's director of energy services and facilities.

The agency typically handles about 100 homes each year.

Mr. Flint said the $1.6 million, combined with the $760,000 the CAPC will receive from the state's Weatherization Assistance Program, will help plenty of people on the program's waiting list.

"What we see mostly as soon as we get the first frost in October, our phones light up," he said. "The time to get this service is not when the weather is cold. The time is now."

Some jobs also will be created, albeit temporarily, from the stimulus funds. Mr. Flint said once the CAPC receives its contract, he will have a better understanding of how many workers will be hired.

More jobs may also be created in Lewis County.

Scott P. Mathys, chief executive officer of Lewis County Opportunities, said the money will allow the Lowville agency to hire and train a few new employees.

"The idea behind the stimulus money is to provide skills and training for when people leave, they have a better chance of securing employment elsewhere," he said.

Additional workers are needed because the number of houses weatherized in Lewis County is expected to go from 60 to about 92 over the next two years.

Mr. Mathys said, however, that the U.S. Department of Energy wanted to know if the agency was capable of spending its nearly half a million dollars in a timely fashion.

"They want us to expend 60 percent of that in the first year, and the remaining 40 percent in the second year," Mr. Mathys said.

Each agency's weatherization program will do an energy audit on eligible homes. Auditors might see the need for some homes to have new windows, doors, insulation in a crawl space or elsewhere, updates to a furnace or other energy-saving measures.

In the past, the St. Lawrence Community Development Program may have put only $3,000 to $4,000 worth of work into weatherization jobs. With the stimulus funds, the agency will be able to provide the same number of homes, or a few more, a larger grant per home.

"It's not like we'll double the units we do," said Norma S. Cary, executive director of the Community Development Program.

The federal money will help the agency fall in line with others that put close to $6,500 into weatherization jobs per homeowner's or renter's unit.

About 120 homes were weatherized in St. Lawrence County last year. That number is expected to increase slightly, Mrs. Cary said.

Information about eligibility for the program is available at CAPC's Energy Services at 788-4388, Lewis County Opportunities at 376-8202, ext. 241, or the St. Lawrence Community Development Program at 386-1102.