Chris Skawski

Energy & Climate Change Team Leader
607-272-2292 ext. 293
cjs359@cornell.edu
Community, Energy

The CCE Tompkins Energy and Climate Change team has been focused recently on providing technical assistance and outreach related to civics and municipal processes, accessible both to residents looking to participate and to local governments that are interested in learning more about the options and funding sources available to them. 

Our projects can inform your planning around local policy, based on thorough research and provided to decision-makers as they evaluated the viability of options available.

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Some examples of my municipal project management and research experience:

Financing Affordable Housing Subsidies in Sisters, Oregon

"This report contains the collected work of graduate student groups ... over the course of fall term 2022. These student groups conducted research to evaluate and forecast productivity of revenue generating activities for consideration by the city of Sisters to augment their Affordable Housing Reserve Fund."

We evaluated options for a small city in Eastern Oregon in order to help their city raise revenue for affordable housing development. This included work with the Sustainable City Year Program to condense our evaluation into a final report submitted to leadership in Eugene.  

Management Strategies for Street Trees Along Historic Parkways (report)

Management Strategies for Parkway Street Trees (presentation)

"Street trees in New York City face a number of environmental hazards that can limit their growth and impact their mortality. The care and stewardship of these trees is the responsibility of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation."

As part of an internship with NYC Parks, I evaluated street tree management for historic parkways. Brooklyn Forestry wanted to make the case that the Parkway trees needed additional funding and care above the attention given to other areas. This report summarizes unique hazards and benefits posed to and by Parkway trees, to make the case that these resources deserved a unique management strategy.

Sidewalk Inventory Findings

"Students measured ‘instances of damage’ which ranged from a single cracked paver to entire damaged block lengths."

Funding and Other Repair Considerations for Municipal Sidewalk Networks

"This report will offer examples of sidewalk repair programs in use by various municipalities, as well as discussions about private versus public repair programs, street tree conflict mitigation, and the importance of sidewalk condition data to overall network health."

As a graduate student, I managed two research projects for the City of Eugene. The first was to design and lead a sidewalk survey to inform the development of a sidewalk repair program. Above you'll find our team's results, covering about 50% of the city's sidewalk network. 

The second link is a report evaluating funding schemes that could support these needed repairs. Student researchers and I compiled a selection of plans, which included the City of Ithaca's sidewalk district tax. Our major points gave City staff options they could use to advocate to local representatives in order to explore the option that worked best for them.

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