sustainability - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T12:02:54Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/sustainabilityBoca Raton: City wants public's input on its sustainability effortshttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-city-wants-public-s-input-on-its-sustainability-effort2023-10-20T14:51:08.000Z2023-10-20T14:51:08.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p class="Body">Boca Raton’s Office of Sustainability is inviting residents to complete a sustainability survey, which is intended to get input that will guide the city’s sustainability initiatives over the next five years.</p><p></p>
<p class="Body">The survey allows residents to express their priorities, propose ideas and offer their suggestions on how the city can effectively address sustainability issues.</p><p></p>
<p class="Body">The city’s first Sustainability Action Plan was created in 2019. The survey results will be used to create the city’s second, updated plan.</p><p></p>
<p class="Body">“Community feedback in the strategic planning phase of our Sustainability Action Plan is a top priority,” said Sustainability Manger Lindsey Roland Nieratka. “We encourage all residents to participate.”</p><p></p>
<p class="Body">The survey is available at <span style="color:#222222;"><a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XQ52NJG" target="_blank">www.surveymonkey.com/r/XQ52NJG</a> and </span>on the city’s website, <a href="http://www.myboca.us" target="_blank">www.myboca.us</a></p>
<p class="Body"></p><p></p><em>— Mary Hladky</em><p></p></div>Briny Breezes: Grant to help with flood planninghttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/briny-breezes-grant-to-help-with-flood-planning2022-06-01T15:38:46.000Z2022-06-01T15:38:46.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Joe Capozzi</strong></p>
<p>In what town officials call “a huge win,’’ Briny Breezes has received a $330,000 state grant to help pay for an ambitious flood and sea level rise protection plan.<br /> The plan is one of 98 projects statewide awarding nearly $20 million through the Resilient Florida Program, including five others in Palm Beach County. <br /> Delray Beach received $100,000 for a citywide vulnerability assessment and adaptation plan. Palm Beach County received $500,000 for vulnerability assessments in unincorporated areas, but for now the assessment will not include the pocket immediately south of Briny Breezes behind Nomad Surf Shop, or any other areas in the Coastal Resilience Partnership of Southeast Palm Beach County, a county official said. <br /> For other local vulnerability studies, $192,475 went to West Palm Beach, $105,000 to Palm Beach and $28,500 to Palm Beach Shores.<br /> For Briny Breezes, where the property tax rate is already at the maximum allowed under state law, the grant will help pay for the plans and studies needed to prepare construction-ready documents for enhanced sea walls, an improved stormwater drainage system and other 50-year adaptation measures. <br /> “It is a huge win for Briny Breezes,’’ Michael Gallacher, president of Briny Breezes Inc., told residents in a newsletter. <br />The grant money will function as a reimbursement, so the town will have to spend money on the projects first and then use the grant to recoup those costs, Town Manager William Thrasher said.<br /> Combined with $145,000 from the town and corporation, the grant money will help Briny Breezes complete a sustainability study, using state-mandated modeling, and a stormwater master plan. A townwide survey of underground utilities has already been completed.<br /> The corporation paid $30,000 to the engineering firm Brizaga for a 144-page flooding adaptation plan, completed in April 2021, to get a head start on its strategies. <br /> “This grant will get us to the next step. It is basically the final step before actually looking at sending out bids. It will give us a picture of how much it might cost,’’ Thrasher said.<br /> “It’s a multifaceted project that’s going to take multiple years to develop. We are fortunate to receive the grant. That also indicates that others believe that we need to be doing similar work,’’ he said.<br /> Though construction costs will be in the millions, Thrasher said he’s optimistic the town will receive assistance from federal and state grants. <br /> “I believe in the project,’’ he said. “I believe it’s necessary and I believe there will be additional funds granted to the town of Briny Breezes for the re-establishment of its sea<br />walls.’’ <br /> However, in order to be eligible for future assistance, Thrasher told the Town Council at its May 26 meeting that it would be good to create and begin putting money into a reserve fund specifically for the project expenses. Those dollars could be used to meet any matching grant requirements.<br /> Mayor Gene Adams agreed with the concept.<br /> “I do think it’s important for us to start to set aside money because everyone I’ve spoken with talks about cost sharing on it,” Adams said.<br /> The town needs to discuss how it might build reserves — money that’s not there now — to qualify for the much larger grants needed to pay for future work, Thrasher said.<br /> If the grants don’t come through, a future council could designate those reserves for other purposes, he said. </p>
<p><em>Larry Barszewski contributed to this story.</em></p></div>Boca Raton: Sustainability manager hopes to cut use of fuel, electricity, waterhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-sustainability-manager-hopes-to-cut-use-of-fuel-electr2019-07-31T14:27:07.000Z2019-07-31T14:27:07.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Mary Hladky</b></span></p>
<p class="p3">Boca Raton now has a sustainability action plan, the first major city effort to begin protecting residents from the effects of global warming and sea level rise.</p>
<p class="p3">“This will be a road map for the Office of Sustainability going forward, the direction we want to go in and some actions it will take to get there,” Sustainability Manager Lindsey Nieratka said in unveiling the plan at a July 22 city workshop.</p>
<p class="p3"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960880478,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960880478,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" alt="7960880478?profile=original" /></a>The document is preliminary and is intended to be updated as Nieratka gets additional data.</p>
<p class="p3">The city is conducting a greenhouse gas emissions inventory to learn who or what is emitting them and to develop strategies to reduce them. It wants to reduce emissions by 15 percent by 2025.</p>
<p class="p3">It also is conducting a climate change vulnerability assessment that will be used to reduce the impact of greater tidal flooding, higher storm surge, heavier rainfall and increased heat.</p>
<p class="p3">The action plan focuses on seven main areas: resource use, waste, the natural environment, the built environment, transportation, climate resiliency and local government.</p>
<p class="p3">Goals include reducing the use of electricity by the city and its residents by 10 percent and reducing water consumption by 5 percent by 2025.</p>
<p class="p3">The city wants to reduce solid waste by 20 percent and increase recycling by 10 percent, along with reducing plastic pollution.</p>
<p class="p3">It also aims at increasing Boca Raton’s tree canopy by 35 percent and to have all new city buildings built to green standards.</p>
<p class="p3">The transportation goals include reducing city fleet fuel usage by 20 percent and commuting by single-occupant vehicles by the same amount.</p>
<p class="p3">Another aim is to increase the city’s investment in sustainability and to train city staff on the subject.</p>
<p class="p3">The city intends to ramp up its efforts even further after it meets its initial goals.</p>
<p class="p3">Many more goals and targets are outlined in the plan, which is available on the city’s website, <span class="s2"><a href="http://www.myboca.us">www.myboca.us</a></span>. </p></div>Boca Raton: Sustainability office hears residents’ ideas as it starts work to make Boca greenerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boca-raton-sustainability-office-hears-residents-ideas-as-it-star2019-04-03T14:40:25.000Z2019-04-03T14:40:25.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Mary Hladky</b></span></p>
<p class="p3">Boca Raton residents offered their ideas on ways to improve environmental safeguards and sustainability at a March 27 session that sought their input.</p>
<p class="p3">Their views will be incorporated into a city sustainability action plan, the first major initiative of the new Office of Sustainability launched in May with the hiring of Lindsey Nieratka as manager.</p>
<p class="p3">The plan will be updated every five years and will focus on resource use, waste, the environment, building structures and transportation.</p>
<p class="p3">“The sustainability action plan will be our road map going forward,” Nieratka told the 20 residents who attended the session.</p>
<p class="p3">Among the goals are reducing water and electricity usage, using renewable sources of energy, decreasing waste and increasing recycling rates, reducing water pollution, improving habitat for wildlife, constructing new buildings in the city that have less environmental impact, adding trees and green space, increasing the number of green buildings and improving the city’s ability to withstand flooding and sea level rise.</p>
<p class="p3">Residents offered a range of ideas, including some measures the city already has implemented.</p>
<p class="p3">Among them were adding solar panels to rooftops, glazing windows, holding programs to teach people how to recycle correctly, reducing or eliminating pesticide use, subsidizing fares for people using ride-sharing services, revamping bus stops to make them more comfortable, harvesting rainwater and increasing the size and funding of the sustainability office.</p>
<p class="p3">The sustainability action plan will complement a climate change vulnerability assessment being developed by the Coastal Resilience Partnership, which consists of Boca Raton and nine other coastal cities and towns. It will assess the vulnerability of coastal communities to climate change and sea level rise.</p>
<p class="p3">Nieratka will hold additional public input sessions before the plan is finalized.</p></div>Editor’s Note: Pay now for protection against rising seashttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/editor-s-note-pay-now-for-protection-against-rising-seas2018-08-01T16:14:14.000Z2018-08-01T16:14:14.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p>I’ve watched one tide turn since we started this newspaper almost 10 years ago: Where there once was a reluctance to utter the words “sea level rise” from the dais, the phrase now is part of the municipal vernacular during discussions on building regulations and comprehensive planning.<br /> It’s about time. <br /> Our larger cities have begun to hire sustainability officers, and most of our barrier island municipalities have identified at least one official to participate in regional groups looking for solutions to the rising waters in our backyards. It’s heartening to see this progress.<br /> But planning for the inevitable will take time, so what we can do now? Simple: maintenance. <br /> The first leaks in our current island drainage plans come when we don’t pay attention to our infrastructure. All municipalities between the ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway should build infrastructure maintenance into the budget plans they will discuss over the summer. Residents should demand it. Local Realtors should demand it. Coastal businesses should demand it — especially builders. <br /> We all know the value of property in this area. If we don’t act soon, we stand to watch those very attractive values sink as the water rises. Taxpayers expect roads, sea walls, outflow valves, swales and drainage systems to be regularly checked and maintained. <br /> The fact that they often haven’t been is deeply concerning. Discovering that a neighborhood has a problem only when the streets flood is unacceptable. <br /> Now is the time to budget for maintenance and repairs. Fix the existing problems. Enforce the building codes that are already on the books. Make sure that new construction doesn’t have a negative effect on existing drainage systems. And plan for the future.<br /> I don’t think you’ll hear any complaints from the taxpayers.</p>
<p><em>— Mary Kate Leming,</em><br /><em>Editor</em></p></div>Delray Beach: Candidates Green Forum coming on March 3https://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-candidates-green-forum-coming-on-march-32014-02-26T19:35:29.000Z2014-02-26T19:35:29.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p> Seven candidates running for two Delray Beach City Commission seats will take part in an interactive panel discussion March 3 on sustainability topics including sea-level rise, economic development, energy /water conservation and responsible development. </p>
<p> The event, open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 188 S. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach.</p>
<p> The Green Forum seeks to raise awareness about the importance of sustainable decision-making across all aspects of city governance. </p>
<p> Yalmaz Siddiqui, senior director, Environmental and Supplier Diversity Strategy at Office Depot, will be the moderator. </p>
<p> The Green Team of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Delray Beach Green, non-profit Sow Share and Nancy Schneider, consultant, are sponsors.</p></div>