In May 2009 the Mayor and Board of Alderman sent two City of Branson representatives to a national “Green Cities Conference. Following that, the Board requested an 8-part sustainability education series for themselves, to be open to the public. They demonstrated a genuine interest and commitment to educating themselves and city staff on possibilities for improvement in our environmental efforts. Here is a timeline of the progress the following year…
In January 2010, City Administrator Kruithof assembled a Sustainability Council, with representatives from each department being appointed by their department head.
- A series of eight “sustainability education” topics were presented to the Board, Sustainability Council and members of the public, covering transportation, energy, eco-tourism, green building, infrastructure, successes and lessons learned.
- Our combined department sustainability successes of 2009-10 were compiled into a bulleted list which covered six pages.
- Sustainability was highlighted monthly in the employee newsletter
- An energy performance contract was negotiated with Burns & McDonnell engineering to reduce energy consumption at all city facilities, projected to save the city $5,000 annually in utility bills.
- City employees are encouraged to “think sustainably” and create new solutions to old problems. Employee incentives are offered to projects which help the environment and/or save the city money.
MEET YOUR SUSTAINABILITY COUNCIL MEMBERS:
Preston Peper, Assistant Parks Director
Why I serve on the sustainability council: I feel the City of Branson has a responsibility to conserve the natural resources of Branson while making honest strives to move towards a more GREEN environment. At the RecPlex we see many visitors and we have been trying to recycle as much as possible by making the means necessary to each and everyone that comes through our doors.
My dream project or idea for my department/facility? My dream idea for the Branson RecPlex would be with any new construction to utilize more environmental materials and also to determine a more friendly way to power the parks and facilities. We have changed all the lights at the RecPlex parking lots to use a much more efficient LED through the Energize Missouri Grant while exploring other avenues to lower our utility bills through cost effective retrofitting.