Capital District Regional Planning Commission

The Capital District Regional Planning Commission is planning a celebration of its 30th Anniversary on Wednesday, September 24th. The Regional agency was created in 1967 under a joint agreement among Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties to carry out various regional planning activities.

A dinner will be held at Franklin Plaza in Troy. Paul J. O'Brien, a CDRPC board member and President of the Capital District Youth Center, Inc., will receive a CDRPC Distinguished Service Award. Mr. O'Brien is being honored for his leadership and dedication in the establishment of the 16-bed Regional Juvenile Secure Detention Facility, which is scheduled for opening on November 3rd of this year.

The keynote speaker of the evening event will be Mr. William Dodge from Washington, DC. Mr. Dodge is currently the Executive Director of the National Association of Regional Councils. He is a nationally-known expert on regional strategic planning and development.

As part of the celebration activities, several organizations will receive the Commission's Erastus Corning Regional Achievement Awards for Intermunicipal Cooperation. The recipients include the Council of Community Services, the Town of Colonie, and the partnership of the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce and Albany County.

Also receiving Awards will be the Schenectady County Solid Waste Planning Unit Committee and several northern Saratoga County towns for the Northern Saratoga County Employment Demonstration Project.

The Regional Achievement Awards were first established in 1985 in honor of CDRPC's first Chairman and the former Mayor of Albany. Erastus Corning, 2nd was a key supporter of the creation of the Regional Planning Commission and an active Board member from 1967 through 1983, the year he passed away.

CDRPC has been responsible for carrying out a variety of Regional analyses, reports, and plans, including economic outlook reports, population projections, the Regional canal plan, and the Regional Aviation System Plan. CDRPC has also been granted the Authority by the State and federal governments to establish and manage the area's Foreign-Trade Zone.

The most recent accomplishment of the Commission has been the successful implementation of plans for a Regional Secure Detention Facility, for which planning was initiated four years ago.

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