Who We Are

CSC Task Force Members

Membership of the CSC Task Force is comprised of a variety of county residents, town supervisors, county staff, and expert advisors.

Columbia County Climate Smart Coordinator

Don Meltz donald.meltz@columbiacountyny.com

Members Municipality

David Newman - County Task Force Chair & EMC Ghent
Open - Ancram
Lisa Bouchard Hoe - Real Estate Broker Austerlitz
Will Powers - Town Board liaison to Town Task Force Canaan
Deborah Conrad - Town Task Force Co-chair Chatham
John Bradley - Town Task Force Coordinator & EMC Claverack
Jennifer Phillips - Bard Center for Environmental Policy Clermont
Cara Boyle - Town Task Force & EMC Copake
Matthew Stinchcomb - Partners for Climate Action Gallatin
Matthew Mercier - Town Task Force Chair Germantown
Open - Greenport
Open - Hillsdale
Joshua Cohen - Strategic Partnerships Consultant Hudson
Sean Casey - Kinderhook Town Board Kinderhook
Stan Yarian - County EMC Livingston
Steve Powers - Town Task Force Chair New Lebanon
John Leone - Stockport Town Board Stockport
Kathy Schneider - Town Task Force & Planning Board Stuyvesant
Betsy Albert - Town Task Force and Town Board Taghkanic
Open - Chatham Village
Bill Mancini - Village Task Force Coordinator & EMC Kinderhook Village
Tom Paino - Village Task Force Coordinator Philmont Village
Laura Cannamela - Artist, Village Task Force Valatie Village

Non-voting members Role

Don Meltz, Columbia County Planning Dept. County Task Force Coordinator
Brenda Adams, Town Supervisor Canaan Board of Supervisors Representative
Donal Collins - Town Supervisor Chatham Board of Supervisors Representative

Other Regularly Attending Guests

Terence Duvall - Columbia Land Conservancy

Christina Bohnsack - Capital Region Clean Energy Hub

Lindsey Strehlau-Howay - Cornell Cooperative Extension

Tara Donadio - CDRPC Assistant Director of Sustainability, CSC and CEC Coordinator

Haley Balcanoff - CDRPC Sustainability Planner, CSC and CEC Coordinator

Becoming a Member

Our adopted Task Force bylaws allow any town, city, or village in the county to have a voting member appointed to the Task Force. If you are interested in becoming involved with the County CSC Task Force and you don't see a representative from your municipality listed here, please let us know and we can guide you through the process of joining. Appointment as a voting member is done by the County Board of Supervisors and requires nomination by the chief elected official of your municipality.