By Dempsey Vick, Stevensville Town Council member
I have read some feedback on the Climate Action Advisory Board and felt that since I was the councilmember that spearheaded this resolution, I should be the one to make some explanations about the board and address some concerns.
I want to inform you that the primary nature of this board is to design a plan for the town government to use energy in a more efficient manner, such as switching from fluorescent lights to LEDs as an example. More importantly, my hope is for the Climate Action Plan is to be added to the growth policy, which is due to be updated soon. For those that do not know what the growth policy is, this is a regularly updated document that the town uses to prepare itself for increased population. The reasoning for adding the plan to the policy is because it cannot be denied that Stevensville is growing and is continuing to grow, and as this happens, if the town can be more efficient in its usage of energy and other resources, then the cost to live here can be kept low as population increases. Which it is important to act now, rather than react later in the future, when energy costs are higher and makes it harder to act. The other concerns have to do with overstretching of resources, to include water/sewer, public health, and public safety; to only mention a few.
Most of the concerns that I have read from you mention an increase in taxes to pay for acting to climate change. I understand this concern as many communities in the nation have increased taxes for their climate plans, the design of our board is to operate on donations only. I feel that a free market approach is the best approach to this, and philanthropy is the best way to fund projects such as this.
In short, the nature of the board is not to ban wood burning stoves, or to tax cow flatulence; but to design a plan to help prepare our local government for implications of climate change and population growth. This is why I have asked for specific qualifications for the board, and a position that requires no qualification; because the average citizen’s input is just as important as the other members. As with our council meetings and other boards; these meetings will be open to the public and not behind closed doors.
If there are any other questions about this project, please do not hesitate to reach out to me by email at Dempsey@townofstevensville.com