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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2021)
SIUSLAW NEWS | SATURDAY, JULY 17, 2021 | 5A PLAN from page 1A replicate them in other parts of the state with other public utilities,” Nystrom said. There were two individuals from Florence in attendance during the meeting. Among those was Michael Allen, with the Oregon Chapter Leader of Elders for Climate Action, a member of the Cli- mate Equity and Resiliency Task Force that reports to the Lane County Board of Com- missioners and a liaison to the Lane County CAC in his capacity as a member of the Lane County Parks Advisory Committee. “I enjoyed the meeting last evening, learned a lot and felt my contribution about home energy scoring was well re- ceived. I especially like the discussion that followed in the open meeting at the end, when the question was asked: ‘What can the county do for the cities?’” Allen said after- wards. “I do hope that cities and school districts, in addi- tion to utilities, will be target- ed in the Lane County CAP.” Allen is a climate activist and has requested support from the City of Florence on some of the local compo- nents about climate change. Those requests have largely gone unanswered. However, he acknowl- edged the work Florence Public Works Director Mike Miller has done to consider how the city might engage with the county effort. “Mike has done a lot to demonstrate what can be done, e.g., he installed sev- eral wind/solar panel combi- nations with batteries to light the yard at the Florence Pub- lic Works Facility on King- wood Street. He also placed solar powered lights near the city court building and at the rear parking lot at the city hall with the intent to do the same in the front parking lot,” Allen said. Additionally, the city has purchased some electric hybrid vehicles and placed charging stations at Florence City Hall and the Florence Municipal Airport. The other local attendee at the Lane County meeting was Ivy Meadow, a Florence resident who believes hu- mans are negatively impact- ing the planet and endan- gering the future of all life on earth as a result of our actions. “The reason I attended the zoom meeting — there was probably more than one rea- son — but the dominant rea- son is just that I’m interested and curious and I want to be part of the solution. I think it’s important that there be as many people attending, listening to and trying to get involved in this kind of thing is possible,” Meadows said. “The more people with their heads in the sand, the less people focus on doing some- thing to make a positive dif- ference. I’d rather be in the latter category.” The evening’s discussion did prompt Meadows to take some immediate action related to her desire to help with reducing hydrofluo- rocarbons and creating a smaller carbon footprint. To that end, she has decided to build a smaller home which will require less energy to warm, cool and light. “I took action today on the plan I have for building an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) at my property. I called Central Lincoln PUD and I went to the Public Works of- fice, and I asked how to take next steps towards having solar and having an electric vehicle charging station in the original plan for con- struction. Both venues were very receptive and were hap- py to help me get to the next step,” Meadow said. The Lane County Board of Commissioners passed the resolution to form a CAP in February 2020, which or- dered the following actions: • Conduct a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and develop an internal plan (CAP Phase 1) for coun- ty operations to establish greenhouse gas reduction targets and implementation plans to meet county targets; and • Develop a comprehen- sive countywide plan (CAP Phase 2) with community engagement to outline ag- gressive goals and strategies, aligned in partnership with local cities climate actions, to establish countywide community targets and high priority areas of action; and • Develop a resiliency plan (CAP Phase 3) to identify adaptation strategies to mit- igate the risks and impacts of climate change anticipated for Lane County; and • Develop Action Initia- tives supporting green jobs, clean energy projects and climate-friendly industries in Lane County; and • Provide open and trans- parent public communica- tions to monitor and evalu- ate progress toward climate action goals; and • Establish a CAC to pro- vide recommendations and advise the Board of Com- missioners on the County’s ongoing climate action work. There will be additional virtual meetings in the weeks to come, one of which will be focused on coastal issues, and Nystrom is encouraging all interested county resi- dents to join in these discus- sions and offer their ideas. The next virtual public meeting will be held on July 21 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and will focus on food, agricul- ture and forestry products. The July 27 meeting will discuss issues directly relat- ed to Florence and the coast. For more information and to register for these upcom- ing meetings, go to https:// l ane co c ap.p ar t icip ate. online/. LOSE TO WIN! MEET THE CONTESTANTS Over $1000 in Prizes & Gifts! 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