City of Powell River council has approved spending $120,000 from the community works reserve for sustainability initiatives.
In March, council endorsed the Community Energy and Emissions Plan (CEEP) and the Carbon Neutral Action Plan (CNAP).
Approving the plans means the city will be recognized as having reached Milestone Three of the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program, a network of Canadian municipal governments that have committed to reducing greenhouse gases and acting against climate change.
Both the CEEP and CNAP identify a list of actions. CEEP actions include the preparation of a sustainability list for buildings, education to developers, active transportation planning and the use of zoning bylaws to define desired energy performances.
CNAP actions include the creation of guidelines to optimize the siting and orientation of new buildings, require evaluation of renewable energy options for buildings and develop an emissions reduction reporting process.
According to Carlos Felip, director of planning services, the implementation of the actions identified in the two plans will make a difference in Powell River’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gases and the effects of climate change. However, the development of a program to move forward on most of the actions identified and the direct implementation of other actions require resources that are beyond the current capacity of the planning department.
“The issue is we now have two plans that give us a laundry list of potential actions that we can take toward efficiencies,” he said. “It requires quite a bit of work to translate this action list into programs. To be very honest, we just don’t have the resources.”
Mac Fraser, chief administrative officer, explained the intention of using the funds is to take the city to Milestone Four in the CEEP commitment. “This would get it in motion,” he said. “Milestone Five is the top milestone and that would be a real moment of pride for the city.”
The $120,000 will cover the cost of temporary professional assistance as well as related expenses such as public consultation, advertising and travel. According to Felip, engaging non-government organizations, private-sector contractors and the public in general will be necessary for the implementation of some specific projects.
Councillor Chris McNaughton has previously raised the idea of establishing a select committee on sustainability. He has had discussions about the idea with councillors Russell Brewer and Myrna Leishman because council has appointed all three of them to some responsibilities associated with sustainability and climate action. They all agreed to recommend to council the establishment of a select committee. The terms of reference would include developing an implementation for CEEP and CNAP and a comprehensive review of the Sustainability Charter for the Powell River Region.
A report on the select committee is on the June 6 committee-of-the-whole agenda.
