Going green: Cape advisory board looking at ways to help city reduce environmental impact

Editor's note: This is the first of a four-part series about the Girardeau Goes Green Advisory Board, a relatively new group that is charged with looking at the ways the city affects the environment. The first part deals with transportation issues, with future stories focusing on waste management, energy and sustainability.

When a new Cape Girardeau advisory board was established in April 2009 to reduce the city's environmental impact, it was not without turmoil.

The Cape Girardeau City Council removed language from the ordinance about reducing carbon dioxide emissions, which then-mayor Jay Knudtson characterized as "caustic, nasty, political."

Some residents and business owners groused to city leaders that they were worried that such a board would increase regulations. Other parts of the ordinance suggested to council members that the board was "laser-focused" on greenhouse gases and crossed the boundary into the "politically charged" debate of global warming.

Now, 20 months later, the Girardeau Goes Green Advisory Board has caused none of those problems, said council member Deb Tracy, who has served as liaison to the board since its inception.

"Some people were worried there would be contention," Tracy said Friday. "That has not been the case whatsoever. The overall perspective has just been so positive and encouraging and [there[']s] such a great working relationship."

Board chairman Adam Gohn gave the council an update at one of its recent meetings and the change in attitude from that April 2009 meeting was profound. The council roundly applauded the work of the board that is charged with developing cost-effective recommendations to reduce energy consumption and improve the ways energy is used.

Cape Girardeau Public Works Department fleet coordinator Michael Schott points Friday to barrels inside the Public Works Department that contain used motor oil from their fleet. The public will soon be able to bring their used motor oil to the facility. The Girardeau Goes Green Advisory Board's transportation focus group is looking at ways to improve the city's fleet. Some possibilities they've looked at include alternative fuel and electric cars. (Laura Simon)

It is also intended to help the city participate in environmental projects, enhance its sustainability and serve as a role model and leader by educating the community and the region.

After some turnover and transition -- organizer Alan Journet and his wife, former chairwoman Kathy Conway, have since moved away -- the eight-member board is gaining momentum.

Gohn told the council that the board has created four focus groups: energy, outdoor sustainability, transportation and waste management. Each focus group is made up of board members and other residents with an interest and a passion in the environment.

The board, which meets regularly, has established officers and developed a list of issues that it is exploring. Some fruits of their labor so far include planting natural wildflowers along the La Croix Trail and a comprehensive survey of all city departments about how waste is managed. Efforts have been made to get recycling bins placed at city parks and the city has been encouraged to consider more efficient ways to use energy.

"We've had good success," Gohn said. "People get hung up on words like 'carbon emission.' They forget we're just talking about conservation and saving money -- both things that the city is interested in doing."

Vice chairman Sam Blackwell is heading the transportation focus group. Blackwell, a former reporter for the Southeast Missourian, agreed it may appear that the board has been slow-going so far but that members were just trying to figure out what to do at first.

The goals of the transportation group so far have been to study how to make the city's fleet of 300 police cars, firetrucks, garbage trucks and others more fuel-efficient. Blackwell has met with Public Works director Tim Gramling to start the dialogue, he said.

One idea that has been discussed, Blackwell said, is the use of natural gas for city vehicles. While the cost of conversion makes that unlikely, Blackwell said, that could still be a goal somewhere down the line. The city spent $300,000 on fuel alone last year.

After last summer's electric car convention, Blackwell said, the city is considering buying an electric car for city use. That could serve as a model to see how well they work and how such cars could be implemented in various city departments.

Another idea, Blackwell said, is to outfit police cars with more powerful batteries so that they don't have to constantly let the vehicles run just so they have access to their computers.

"It sounds like little stuff, but it could add up," Blackwell said.

The group was also involved with the city's addition of bicycle lanes to certain streets last year. The board also intends to continue to encourage the city to keep those lanes free of debris so that they can be popular among longtime and new cyclists.

Blackwell understands that a certain element in any community will scoff at the idea of what the board stands for.

"It's a struggle locally and nationally," Blackwell said. "But that's where the education comes in. If you can show that by doing things green there are ways to save money and conserve energy, minds can be changed about that."

From a city level, the staff has been most receptive, he said. For example, Blackwell met with the city's fleet coordinator about electric cars.

"He was open to listening to what we have to say about electric cars," Blackwell said. "He was willing to consider how things can be done differently. My sense is the advisory board is all about starting a dialogue, starting a discussion in the community. If the community decides that our ideas are not practical, we'll find something else."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

2007 Southern Expressway, Cape Girardeau, MO