Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

To:      David L. Corliss, City Manager & Craig Weinaug, County Administrator

From: Eileen Horn, Sustainability Coordinator

CC:     Cynthia Wagner, Assistant City Manager & Sarah Plinsky, Assistant County Administrator

Date:  April 30, 2012

RE:  Sustainability Coordinator Position – 2 Year Review

In 2009-2010, the city and county partnered to establish a shared Sustainability Coordinator position which was filled in May 2010.  Since then, the Sustainability Coordinator has focused on initiatives in energy efficiency, renewable energy, local food production/community gardens, and education programs for staff and citizens.  In addition, she serves as chief public contact for these initiatives, and coordinates citizen outreach programs to communicate the city and county sustainability goals and projects.

Energy efficiency:

• Implemented EnergyCAP – energy use monitoring software for all city facilities.
• Created a staff-level Energy Management Team to generate energy-saving project ideas.
• Created a Sustainability and Energy Savings Reinvestment fund for Douglas County.  This revolving loan fund provides $ for energy efficiency and captures savings for future projects.
• Facilitated free energy audits of:
• City Hall
• Lawrence Arts Center
• Police ITC
• United Way building

Renewable energy:

• Secured a grant to install solar photovoltaic panels at the Extension office at the Fairgrounds.
• Successfully applied for the EPA/NREL Repowering America program for technical assistance at the former Farmland Industries site.
• Monitored and reported on solar thermal panels at Jail and Youth Services buildings.

Local food policy/community gardens:

• Partnered with KSU for a Food System Report for the Douglas County Food Policy Council.
• Coordinates the Food Policy Council to generate local food policy recommendations.
• Created the “Common Ground” urban agriculture and community gardening program which utilizes vacant/underutilized city properties for food production.
• Partnered with the Douglas County Community Foundation and the Health Dept. to secure a $25,000 planning grant to address community challenges in accessing healthy local food.

Education/outreach for staff and citizens:

• Facilitated a sustainability planning process for Douglas County department directors that resulted in a countywide Sustainability Plan.
• Created a county-level Sustainability Team comprised of staff at all levels, in all departments.
• Collaborated with the Fire/Med staff to run the Energy Smackdown, an energy-saving competition that slashed use an average of 10% across all stations.
• Coordinated the citywideTake Charge Challenge, an energy contest against Manhattan.
• Created sustainability directories on both City and County websites – sharing stories of our sustainability accomplishments, and connecting citizens with resources.

Grants received/partnered on:

• Sunflower Foundation Trails Grant (completion of DeVictor Park trail loop) - $15,000
• Renewable Energy Incentive Grant (solar PV panels on county extension office) - $7,200
• Resourceful Kansas (free energy audits of Police ITC & United Way – est. value - $8,000
• Energy Office (sponsorship of Take Charge Challenge outreach funds) - $25,000
• ICLEI/IMT (Commercial energy efficiency technical assistance) – est. value - $10,000
• Repowering America (EPA/NREL technical assistance at Farmland) – est. value - $35,000
• Kansas Health Foundation Access to Healthy Foods Planning Grant - $25,000
• KSU/Kansas Health Foundation (Community garden for J.T. Park) - $4,750

Boards/committees on which the Sustainability Coordinator serves:

1.  Air Quality Advisory Committee

2.  City Sustainability Advisory Board

3.  Douglas County Food Policy Council

4.  City Solid Waste Task Force

5.  T2040 Transportation Planning

6.  Fire/Med "Green Team"

7.  Douglas County Sustainability Team

8.  LiveWell Lawrence Steering Committee

     9.  Peak Oil Task Force

Media coverage of sustainability initiatives:

Over 75+ media hits in LJWorld, KLWN, KPR, Baldwin City Signal, Channel 6, Fox 4 News

Sample headlines:

Lawrence Residents Asked to Put Energy Into Contest Against Manhattan

Food Policy Council tours County's Farms

Renters can make cheap, temporary fixes to keep out cold

Douglas County Extension Office to use sunlight for energy, education

Electric Car Charging Station Coming to Lawrence

City installs new LED lights in downtown Lawrence