LAKE PLACID — The North Elba Town Council approved 15 grants on Tuesday from the Local Enhancement and Advancement Fund. These grants support projects by local organizations that provide direct benefit to the community. The council also approved three applicants to the Cannabis Sales Taxation Funds Grant Program.

Among the LEAF grants approved Tuesday was a $95,000 grant for First Steps Daycare, a pilot program run by St. Agnes School to provide child care for children from birth to age 3. The board also formally authorized the allocation of $50,000 to First Steps, which will be allocated from the Community Tourism Enhancement Fund, which is funded by occupancy taxes.

“We’re very proud to be part of an effort to make the St. Agnes program a full, complete program, because this 0 to 3 age group is like the hardest aspect,” Town Supervisor Derek Doty said. “It is a great effort. It’s another example of a community coming together within one year.”

This project has been the outcome of more than a year of research and conversation by town and village leaders alongside other community stakeholders through the child care committee that is nested under the town and village Development Commission. Council member Jason Leon said with these funding sources, the project is now a reality.

“There’s no more conversation — it’s real,” he said.

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Other LEAF grants

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The LEAF grants are funded by revenue from the 5% occupancy tax collected by Essex County. This is the seventh round of grants since the program began in the summer of 2020. The organizations recieving funding in this round are:

¯ Adirondack Community Avalanche Project recieved $3,000 to run an avalanche beacon training park.

¯ High Peaks Farmers’ Markets received $4,000 for marketing materials.

¯ Historic Saranac Lake received $7,350 towards a new film room.

¯ Lake Placid Police Department received $16,070 for the purchase of a TruNarc system.

¯ Lake Placid Volunteer Ambulance Service received $19,000 for an automated stretcher.

¯ Mercy Care for the Adirondacks received $5,000 to improve the Mercy Care Garden.

¯ North Country Community College Foundation received $10,000 towards pool renovations.

¯ Open Space Institute Land Trust received $25,000 for permanent bathrooms at the Adirondack Rail Trail trailhead.

¯ Placid Snowmobile Club received $50,000 towards the purchase of a groomer for the Adirondack Rail Trail.

¯ Shipman Youth Center received $12,524.61 to help with kitchen renovations.

¯ The ADK Ripple Effect received $5,000 for fishing equipment for youth programs.

¯ USA Luge received $10,000 for equipment to supplement their visitor experience programs.

¯ Village of Lake Placid received $20,000 towards the revitalization of Peacock Park.

¯ Village of Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department received $4,807 for electric vehicle fire fighting eqipment.

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Cannabis fund grants

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The board approved three grant applications from the cannabis taxation fund, which are received and reviewed on a rolling basis. The first was a request from Lake Placid Central School District for funding of a four to five-day Community School Summer Program. This program includes a STEM camp, a sports camp and a robotics camp, each targeted for a specific age range.

“One more week with half-day programming gets parents over that hump, from the end of Camp Placid to school starting,” town council member Emily Kilburn Politi said.

She added that the school provides space for Camp Placid. The other town board members agreed providing these funds was an appropriate way to thank and support the school. The board agreed to grant $7,000 for the Community School program.

The Lake Placid Language Club applied for a grant to go towards a one-week cultural immersion program in Quebec City this summer. The board approved the requested amount of $5,000 to go towards the trip, which has a total cost of around $15,000. The students have been fundraising for the trip and have about $4,000 left to go, according to the grant application.

The third grant was for the Lake Placid Youth Athletic Association to purchase equipment and materials to improve its softball and baseball programs. LPYAA received $5,000 from the cannabis taxation fund.

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Other agenda items

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The village of Lake Placid has a new text alert system. To find out more and get signed up, visit tinyurl.com/3vp2y2re. The town council members expressed an interest in setting up town-specific notifications as well, which would likely use the same system as the village alerts.

The town council unanimously approved a proposal for the first phase of a sidewalk project on Wesvalley and Cummings roads. This phase mostly involves survey work and work on grant applications, along with regular meetings between the town and the engineering firm, Suozzo, Doty and Associates.

Doty reminded the board that the project will not move into the second phase until funding is secured. A feasibility study presented by the firm in September estimated the cost of the project to be around $3 million.