Suffolk County Democrats
Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone is announcing the kickoff to the First Annual Attainable Green Home Competition at a press conference on Tuesday, January 25th at 11:00am. The press conference will be held at 54 N. 15th Street in Wyandanch where Supervisor Bellone will be joined by Theresa Regnante, President and CEO of the United Way of Long Island, and Vince Capogna, Executive Director of the U.S. Green Building Council, Long Island Chapter.read more
Under Steve Bellone's watch, Babylon is the only municipality in the state awarded the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation 2010 Environmental Excellence Award.
From the press release:
Town of Babylon - Long Island Green Homes Project (Suffolk County)read more
Despite grappling with plummeting revenue and swelling pension and health-care costs, most Long Island towns intend to hold the line on taxes in 2011.
Flat tax rates will not come without a cost in towns such as Brookhaven, which intends to lay off 69 workers, and Islip, where officials expect to continue their effort to reduce the workforce, which will be 24 percent smaller than it was in 2006.
With 10 Long Island towns...read more
Supervisor Bellone's success underscores the fact that big cities aren't the only ones who can hatch innovative ideas and become national leaders on local sustainability. Bellone, a LEED AP, led the launch of Long Island Green Homes in 2008, the nation's first property assessed clean energy (PACE) program to help homeowners surmount the upfront costs of making energy efficiency improvements - and dramatically save money and reduce GHG emissions. The town lends homeowners a sum of money, and they pay it back via property taxes.read more
Bellone drove the launch of the Long Island Green Homes program back in 2008, which was the first PACE program aimed at helping homeowners fund energy efficiency improvements.read more
The 50 Most Influential Long Islanders of 2009
...Bellone puts the “super” in supervisor. Many town supervisors enjoy fairly long tenures (Brookhaven aside) and some have the tendency to surround themselves with sycophants. Bellone chose to up the ante by surrounding himself with truly talented staffers with a knack for thinking outside the box, as evidenced by the Green Homes program. Babylon has been transformed into one of the most environmentally savvy towns in the state and continues to push the envelope in this respect—all the while maintaining a strong balance sheet...
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