One of Port Orchard Mayor Lary’s Coppola’s goals for 2010 (see
below) is a push to make the city more green. That’s green as in
environmentally friendly, not as in planting more trees.
Coppola, in his
video newsletter for February, echoed the thoughts all other
local government leaders when he said, “In this day and age, it
makes absolutely no sense from any standpoint for the city not to
be green.”
Among Port Orchard’s green initiatives is a plan to do energy
audits on all facilities, a practical but hardly novel idea.
Four other local governments — the cities of Bremerton, Poulsbo,
Bainbridge Island and the Port of Bremerton — are
taking advantage of federal stimulus money and a Puget Sound
Energy program to reduce energy usage over three years.
The three cities (minus PO) and the port will hire a single
employee for three years to study how each jurisdiction can save on
energy costs. The program is projected to save 2 percent on energy
usage during the first year and 5 percent during each of the next
two. Total savings for the four agencies is expected to be around
$278,000 in year three.
The Bremerton and Poulsbo city councils approved the agreement
Wednesday. The Bainbridge Island City Council and the Port of
Bremerton commissioners will consider the issue this week.
Port Orchard was invited to participate, but members of the City
Council’s finance committee declined. The chief concern among
finance committee members, Coppola told Kitsap Sun reporter Steve
Gardner, was that the city would be on the hook to pay a permanent
salary beyond the three-year program.
That’s characteristic of Port Orchard. City officials’ penchant
for fiscal conservatism remains intact since the departure of
long-time Treasurer
Kris Tompkins, replaced on retirement by former assistant state
treasurer
Allan Martin.
Coppola, in the video, takes full advantage of comparing his
city’s relatively sound finances (no lay-offs or furloughs to date)
to those of Bremerton and Kitsap County.
Coppola, in his video address, said the city will be looking
into other sources of PSE funding and stimulus grants for help
implementing energy savings identified through internal audits.
Among Port Orchard’s other proposed green initiatives:
Reduce Paper Use
The city in its most recent utility bill mailing announced that
customers can sign up for automatic withdrawal from checking or
savings. For customers, it’s a matter of convenience, but it’s also
a step on the city’s part toward conducting more business online.
So far 51 utility customers have signed up. Coppola says if more
people pay bills online, the city will save in postage, materials
and ultimately staff time. The city treasurer’s office is also
working to implement a separate program, in response to citizens’
requests, that will allow use of credit or debit cards for utility
bill payment.
Coppola is also pushing for a move to online information packets
for city council meetings. Each council member receives a packet
for each of 38 meetings each year; that amounts to five reams, or
2,500 pages, of paper per meeting. Total paper used per year: 180
reams. It all adds up, said Coppola, who has suggested that
computer terminals be placed at each council member’s seat so they
could access materials online during meetings as well as from
home.
My thoughts: Presumably paper copies of meeting packets and
minutes would still be available on request to any member of the
public who lacks computer access.
Hybrid Cars
The Port Orchard Police Chief has a hybrid. Coppola said that, as
other vehicles come up for replacement, the city will look into
getting hybrids.
Solar Power
The city, according to Coppola, will explore using solar power at
pump stations and other “remote” facilities. Although “not a total
solution,” it’s worth looking into , he said.
See below for a list of Mayor Lary Coppola’s goals for the city
of Port Orchard in 2010 Continue reading →
