The Village of Montgomery has become the latest Hudson Valley community to take the Climate Smart Pledge.

According to climatesmart.ny.gov, the Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Certification program supports local governments in building a sustainable, balanced climate action program, one step at a time.

It begins with the resolution approved by the village board last week to pass the CSC pledge to join the program and become a Registered Climate Smart Community.

Trustee Randi Picarello, who introduced the resolution, said the village would be in “good company” with the village of Walden and Maybrook and the Town of Montgomery, which are already Climate Smart Communities. The towns of Shawangunk and Gardiner have also taken the pledge. The neighboring municipalities, she said, have a fair amount of experience in working on Climate Smart initiatives, and could offer assistance.

“It is my intent to engage residents that have the time and the resources and the knowledge to assist and we’re doing a lot of things right now that are doing some of this work anyway.” Picarello said.

Among the Climate Smart initiatives that could be realized include planting pollinator flowers and utilizing electric vehicle charging stations.

Mayor Steve Brescia said the CSC program has good intent, but wanted the authority to approve any allocation of village resources for the program. He said he once served on the green committee of the Orange County Legislature.

”They came out with some good ideas,” Brescia said. “They came out with some outrageous ideas too.”

Despite his concerns, the board voted 4-0 (with Trustee Walt Lindner absent) to adopt the motion as written, and to designate Picarello as the contact person to complete the process.