City of Powell River received an award for its actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and become more environmentally friendly.
At the October 1 city council meeting, Dale Littlejohn, executive director of the Community Energy Association, appeared before council to present the award in the corporate operations category for the city’s overall corporate climate action strategy and climate action in a small coastal town. The announcement of the award was made at the recently concluded Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention.
Prior to Littlejohn’s presentation, mayor Dave Formosa said he thinks the community knows how dedicated it is to climate change adaptation. He said council has a portfolio holder, councillor CaroleAnn Leishman, in a portfolio just for climate change. He added that the city has its sustainability committee, which is all about actions and getting things done. He said the city also has a sustainability planner, Ana Lukyanova, and her job is to deal with matters of sustainability.
“The amount of dollar savings she has delivered to this city is incredible,” said Formosa. “Our financial investments versus years of return on investments are 10 years and under for the most part. There are phenomenal returns on investment.”
Littlejohn said he was pleased to congratulate the city on winning the award. He said an independent judging panel had selected the community and its actions from a wide array of very strong and innovative nominees.
Littlejohn said some of the projects mentioned in Powell River’s application for the award were adopting a green vehicle and green building policy, working with BC Hydro to install the region’s first electric vehicle fast charger, upgrading lighting to LEDs in municipal buildings, and purchasing self-watering planters on Marine Avenue. The community was also recognized for installation of the REALice system for using cold water instead of hot for the Zamboni ice clearing system at Powell River Recreation Complex. Another important initiative was passing a bylaw allowing low-speed electric vehicles to operate within the city.
“Thank you very much for the great work you’ve been doing,” said Littlejohn. “I hope to be here in the future, presenting future awards for both corporate operations and community-wide action. This is an important time to celebrate your progress on the journey but the journey isn’t over.”
Littlejohn said Powell River’s accomplishments would be highlighted in the December 2020 edition of Municipal World magazine.
Formosa thanked Littlejohn and said the city appreciates all of the advice provided to Lukyanova on her various projects.
“We appreciate very much the financial help and the grant we received for having Ana in our employment for a couple of years,” said Formosa. “We hope to be able to carry that on. It pays fruit, as we saw from this presentation. I was very proud as we got to sit here and see all of the great other communities that we are amongst, the wonderful projects of ours that were mentioned, and the ones that are yet to come.
“The challenge is there for Powell River to step up once again.”
