AGENDA #4h
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Proposal for Cooperative Effort for Working on International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives
DATE: October 22, 2001
The attached resolution requests the Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Carrboro Board of Aldermen to authorize their Managers to work jointly with Chapel Hill staff to obtain a funding source and prepare a countywide emissions reduction plan once funding becomes available.
This memorandum responds to the Council’s request for a report on whether Carrboro and Orange County are willing to work with Chapel Hill on a countywide emissions reduction plan.
On August 23, 1999, the Council adopted a resolution pledging the Town to join in the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign, sponsored by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The resolution authorized the Town Manager to:
· Take a leadership role in increasing energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from municipal operations;
· Apply for a grant from International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI); and,
· If a grant is awarded, retain the services of a consultant and develop and implement a local action plan which describes the steps to be taken by the Town and the community to reduce both greenhouse gas and air pollution emissions; the plan would include:
o Obtain an analysis of greenhouse gas emissions coming from municipal operations and the community as a whole.
o Develop a forecast of emissions growth for a future (forecast) year.
o Adopt a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target.
o Develop a local action plan specifying the actions to be taken to achieve the emissions reduction target.
o Implement and monitor the plan and report the results.
On August 27, 2001 a Council member petitioned the Council to request that the Town Manager contact the Carrboro Town Manager and the Orange County Manager to discuss working together on International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives projects and provide the Council with an answer to the request by late September or early October 2001 (please see Attachment 1).
I have spoken with County Manager John Link and Carrboro Town Manager Robert Morgan about International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. They both said they believed that their governing boards would be interested in working together on a grant application.
In the past we have been unable to secure grant money to pay for an Action Plan from the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives.
We recently contacted the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives again to inquire about other funding opportunities that may become available. We will be providing other funding ideas as we hear of them. For example, an opportunity to apply for grant money may be the EPA’s Clean Air Transportation Communities Grants Program, which provides grant funding on an annual basis as part of a request for proposals process.
Carrboro’s participation in the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives and the County’s interest in joining as well provide a cost-sharing opportunity for funding a greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan. A countywide plan also would be more effective than one that simply focuses on sources within the Town limits.
We recommend the Council adopt the attached resolution.
A RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE TOWN TO REQUEST PARTICIPATION BY CARRBORO AND ORANGE COUNTY IN GRANT APPLICATIONS TO FUND COUNTYWIDE EMISSIONS REDUCTION STUDY (2001-10-22 /R-5)
WHEREAS, on August 23, 1999, the Council adopted a resolution pledging the Town to join in the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign, sponsored by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and
WHEREAS, the Council stated that the Town would develop a greenhouse gas emissions study in the event that grant funding is obtained; and
WHEREAS, a countywide emissions reduction plan would be more effective than one that focuses on sources within the Town limits in addressing the regional problem of air pollution; and
WHEREAS, the Carrboro Town and Orange County Manager have expressed interest in working jointly with Chapel Hill on ICLEI initiatives.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council requests the Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Carrboro Board of Aldermen to authorize their Managers to work jointly with Chapel Hill staff to obtain a funding source and prepare a countywide emissions reduction plan once funding becomes available.
This the 22nd day of October, 2001.