Policy Committee Notes -- November 6, 2008

Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado

• Twin Buttes. The City Council public hearing on the Twin Buttes annexation and conceptual development proposal occupied three evenings: October 21, October 28, and November 5. Public input, which included statements on both sides by members of the Sustainability Alliance, concluded on November 5 and the Council began their own discussion, which will continue on Monday, November 10 (6:30 p.m. at City Hall). 
  
  
• Oil and gas regulations. The Board of County Commissioners has postponed further discussion of the new regulations. Documentation appears at http://co.laplata.co.us/plan/CurrProjects/OG_REVISION_DRAFT.html, but the schedule presently stated there is already obsolete. Citizen support for adoption of the greenhouse gas emission reporting amendment submitted by the Sustainability Alliance is still timely. 
  
  
• Climate Action Plan. A kickoff meeting the for the La PlataCounty climate action plan took place on October 23. The next meeting will be Wednesday, November 12, at the DurangoRecreationCenter. 4CORE is actively seeking volunteers to serve on the 8 working groups that will develop elements of the plan over the coming year. Please consider participating. Contact 4CORE Executive Director Aileen Tracy (aileen@fourcore.org, 259-1916).

• County and City budget processes. Dick White attended the October 6 meeting of the City Planning Commission to review the 5-year capital budget plan for Durango. The capital improvement plan includes a water line under 8^th or 9^th Avenue that could serve a future development on Ewing Mesa. Dick spoke to the commission urging the City to be proactive in seeking development on Ewing Mesa, consistent with the citizen priorities articulated in the 2007 Comprehensive Plan. Marcus Renner has reported on behalf of the Sustainable Local Economic Development Committee that the draft City budget includes $5000 for support of the LOCAL program (half of the requested $10,000). Both the City Council and Board of County Commissioners will be having budget study sessions during November and will finalize the 2009 budgets early in December. Check the respective websites for details. 

• CDOT. On October 23, Dick White attended a meeting held at the Fairgrounds by leaders of the Colorado Department of Transportation. They reported on the results of the commission that surveyed Colorado’s transportation needs: CDOT needs an additional $1.5 billion per year to maintain and improve transportation infrastructure. The CDOT Director remarked that we have been living off the infrastructure investments of earlier generations and not making the investments needed for our descendents.

• 2008 election. The reelection of Wally White ensures the presence of a sustainability champion on the Board of County Commissioners. The defeat of Amendments 58 and 59 promise ongoing budget challenges for Colorado, which may slow some of Governor Ritter’s energy initiatives. (Even before the election, he proposed a deep cut in the CDOT budget owing to the current economic crisis.) The election of Barack Obama as President and a large Democratic majority in Congress, however, promises progressive action on many fronts, not least energy and climate change. In the present economic climate, such initiatives will require strong citizen support.