City of The Dalles Climate Change Resiliency Committee gains steam
The Climate Change Resiliency Committee hosted their first official meeting on July 8th, 2022. Pictured Left row from front to back: Debi Ferrer, Citizen, Dan Richardson, City Councilor, Kurt Conger, Public Utilities District, Ryan Bisset, Soil and Water Conservation District, Right row from front to back: Lisa Gambee, Wasco County Clerk, Matthew Klebes, City Manager, Eric Hanson, Assistant Director at Public Works, Jean Corbin, Assistant Administrator at Public Works. On zoom: Paula Grendel, North Central Public Health District.
By Cole Goodwin
The Climate Resiliency Committee held their first official meeting at The Dalles City Hall at 9 a.m. on July 8th to finalize a regular meeting schedule, elect a chair and finalize the committee’s mission statement.
The committee elected Dan Richardson as Chairman.
The committee also voted to adopt the following mission statement:
Our mission is to address the increasing impacts of climate change; we will recommend local, affordable, and achievable actions and strategies to the City of The Dalles and Waco County.
The committee then brainstormed focus areas for the committee to work towards. Ideas included charging stations, water supply, water consumption, power supply, small scale renewable energy projects, City and County energy audits, urban heat mitigation, recommendation that the City and County incorporates climate change into their master plans, emissions reduction through conversion of City and County vehicles, and incentives for energy saving and energy renewable projects.
Actions brought up by the committee include finding funding sources, and creating an inventory of local efforts to mitigate climate change.
Newly elected Chairman Dan Richardson said that he felt the meeting went well overall.
“Climate change is a really big issue and it's hard to get one's arms around it, but it also has real local impacts and the people around this table are committed to thinking about those impacts and how to keep our community livable, ensure a high quality of life and be resilient in the face of these changes,” said Richardson. “It’s a really valuable conversation that we’re just getting started. It’s a little overwhelming to think about the big picture but it's important to try and grasp it and learn what we can do on a local level.”
“I'm happy and honored to be one of the people involved with that,” said Richardson “And I felt that our first official meeting was surprisingly fruitful. We got a lot of traction. We defined who we are and what we’re about and how to get at it. That’s a lot for one meeting. So, it’s a good start.”
The next meeting will occur on August 12th, 2022.
Click here for this meeting's agenda.
Click here for additional Mission Statement information.
Click here for The Dalles Mayor Rich Mays notes on the previous meeting.
