Morgan Hill residents are driving less, cutting back on water
consumption, recycling more and reducing their greenhouse emissions
– and while a lot of it has to do with the struggling economy, it
all fits right in with the city’s environmental agenda.
Morgan Hill residents are driving less, cutting back on water consumption, recycling more and reducing their greenhouse emissions – and while a lot of it has to do with the struggling economy, it all fits right in with the city’s environmental agenda.
And despite its own continuing financial difficulties, the city will remain faithful to the strategy adopted in 2007 to promote clean air, healthy lifestyles, energy efficiency, long-term sustainability and environmental stewardship.
Except this year the city will continue to do without publicly funded programs incorporated into that strategy, such as the “carbon diet club” – in which 205 households reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by about 1.4 million pounds – and similar educational programs to encourage residents to reduce air pollution, shop locally and avoid solo driving to and from work. The programs were cut from the city’s budget last year.
This year the city will focus on only the environmentally friendly programs and projects that are mandated by the state or federal government, could save money for the city or are self-funded. City council members voiced strong support for continuing the environmental agenda along these criteria earlier this month, and unanimously reaffirmed their support of the original agenda.
Mayor Steve Tate noted that even though the city cannot continue “innovative” programs like the carbon diet club, it is important for the long-term health of the community to maintain a devotion to environmental cleanliness, especially as the effects of global warming bear down on the planet.
“It’s what we owe our kids, and our grandchildren,” Tate said.
Councilman Gordon Siebert said the council’s support of the agenda should make it clear to residents and contractors that the city will urge the consideration of “an environmental component” to any new project or policy, for example.
A three-pronged environmental approach for 2011, approved unanimously by the council earlier this month, consists of participation in the First Lady’s Let’s Move campaign to promote healthy eating and fitness, a “zero waste agenda” which could result in a plastic grocery bag ban by the end of the year, and aggressive efforts to equip city facilities with a more energy-efficient infrastructure.
Earlier this year the council adopted a resolution to identify Morgan Hill as a “Let’s Move City,” lending its support to healthy diets and more fitness among all the city’s residents. Efforts in this area will be coordinated through the recreation and community services department, and the health initiative “overlaps” with the environmental agenda by encouraging community and environmental health, program administrator Anthony Eulo said.
In what could become the city’s most controversial environmental topic this year, the council could move toward consideration of a single-use plastic retail bag ban. The Santa Clara County Cities Association will present a recommendation on a model retail bag ordinance by May. Tate said the recommendation could be for the county’s smaller cities to adopt an ordinance similar to that of San Jose, which recently passed an ordinance banning plastic grocery-style bags, and requiring retail outlets to charge customers for paper carry-out bags.
Not all councilmembers are convinced that such a stringent policy is best for Morgan Hill. Councilman Rich Constantine suggested the zero-waste idea go even further, perhaps by requiring the use of paper bags made only from 100-percent recycled material.
“Anything we can do to mitigate dumping into our landfills (and save trees) is beneficial to all of us,” Constantine said.
Also working its way through other jurisdictions in the county is an effort to ban foam food packaging, which may make its way to Morgan Hill for consideration later this year, Eulo said.
The biggest example of energy-efficiency improvements at city facilities currently is the effort to equip the Centennial Recreation Center with a solar power system. The $2.5-million project is currently out to bid, and the council may select a contractor Wednesday night.
The project, consisting of solar-panel carports throughout the CRC parking lot, is both environmentally- and budget-friendly, Eulo said, as it will eliminate the use of non-renewable energy at the site, and save about $115,000 per year in electricity costs.
Other energy efficiency efforts in the city include the replacement of street light bulbs with LED lamps which use less energy, and an upcoming effort this year to install even more solar power systems on city facilities.
Tate added that as the downtown Morgan Hill redevelopment project proceeds at the Downtown Mall, Granada Theater and other sites, it will reflect the city’s devotion to sustainability. That project will incorporate “smart growth,” as an urban center that is pedestrian- and bike-friendly, with close proximity to a variety of transportation options.
For the current fiscal year, the city cut more than $350,000 from its environmental programs budget, which currently sits at about $200,000. The cuts came in the form of the elimination of one full-time position, and educational and other outreach programs that . Eulo does not yet know if the department will require even more cuts this year, though he is sure the environmental agenda will not gain anymore funding.
The city’s environmental programs have had mixed results since 2007, though city staff note that some items on the list of local environment indicators will require more years of data to determine a definitive pattern. Plus, many of the positive results are a factor of the economy, such as a 12 percent reduction in citywide use from 2007 to 2009.
The city’s own greenhouse gas output spiked in 2008, due to the drought which limited PG&E’s ability to use renewable hydroelectric power, and the city’s first full year of operation at the new Development Services Center. In 2009, the city spent a total of $2.4 million on electricity costs.
And while overall greenhouse gas emissions by private residents and businesses in Morgan Hill is on the rise, per capita emissions are on the way down, due to household and commercial spending cutbacks.
Residents’ auto fuel consumption dropped from 609 gallons in 2007 to 541 gallons in 2009. More passengers were reported on VTA buses in the three-year period, though Caltrain ridership dropped.
And the community seems to be growingly focused on health and fitness, as memberships at the CRC and Aquatics Center, as well as the number of county park passes sold to Morgan Hill people rose from 2007 to 2009.
One casualty of the budget last year was the city’s ability to track these and other consumption patterns, and 2009 was the last time such a comprehensive report was produced.
A large factor owing to the city’s devotion to environmental friendliness are state-mandated programs that the city has to comply with. The most pressing of these is AB32, known as the California Global Warming Solutions act, which went into effect this year and sets strict limits on carbon emissions in the public and private sectors.
“The environmental agenda helps the city position itself so that when AB32 comes to full force, and we know what the impact is going to be, we’ll be able to hit that head-on without a negative impact on our budget and the citizens,” Constantine said.
