2/10/2009
By Jeffrey Pieters
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN

By spring, the Rochester City Council might be appointing members to a volunteer commission focused on energy concerns.

Five of the six council members at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting expressed support for a commission that would recommend energy-efficiency improvements for public buildings, recommend steps to reduce pollution, and develope incentives for builders and businesses to “go green.”

“A group focused on this will help drive more outcomes and more achievements going forward,” said council member Ed Hruska, who spoke about forming such a group during budget discussions in December.

Council member Michael Wojcik joined Hruska in advocating for the group.

“We have the ability to significantly reduce the amount of pollution we put into the air and save a lot of money,” Wojcik said.

Council member Bruce Snyder opposed the new group because he felt it duplicated some of the duties of the Olmsted County Environmental Commission, which has several city residents and one city council member as members.

“I hate to see us just expanding and expanding and expanding,” Snyder said.

While Hruska said the volunteer commission would operate at no cost to the city, Snyder said the staff time to support the commission would cost money.

Hruska said he hoped the new commission would be complementary to the Environmental Commission, the city’s Committee on Urban Design and the Environment and staff members’ efforts. He said he came away from a conference on energy last fall convinced that, with fuel costs rising and supplies falling, the time for special initiative has come.

“I don’t think this is an area we want to fall behind in,” Hruska said. “It’s just too important.”

The city will likely have to form the commission by ordinance, a voting process that takes about a month. Before that, it will take about six weeks to prepare the details — the commission’s membership, mission and goals.

Winona and Northfield have energy commissions like the one proposed here, said Christine Schultze, a local architect who’s helping plan the group.

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=384576

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