Several years’ worth of Riverside’s environmental efforts have culminated in the village’s adoption of a formal “Road to 2050” climate action and resilience plan earlier this month.
At their May 1 meeting, village trustees voted to approve the plan as part of the consent agenda, meaning they did not discuss it on its own. The board had previewed a draft of the plan at a meeting in March, where Melanie Nutter, principal of Nutter Consulting, Riverside’s contracted firm for the project, explained it contained more than 100 specific actions that would fall under a list of 45 strategies for the village to reduce its own impact on climate change and prepare Riverside to endure the consequences of such change.
According to agenda documents, seven actions were added to the final version of the plan based on public feedback received after the village board previewed the draft.
Those include reviewing Riverside’s idling vehicle policy, working with schools and community groups in town to encourage the reuse of school and sports supplies, developing online examples of native plant installations, increasing the number of community gardens, creating an outlet for communication to and feedback from the public about sustainability, raising awareness about Riverside’s public watering schedule and encouraging natural lawn care programs.
At the meeting in March, Nutter told the village board a list of priority actions would be created for inclusion in the final draft. There are 16 items on the list that Riverside can immediately work toward putting into practice, including reducing the use of gas-powered landscaping equipment, increasing pedestrian and bicycle access to train and bus stations, installing more electric vehicle charging stations, creating composting programs, auditing the energy use of village facilities, and imposing financial incentives for residents to mitigate potential flood damage on their property.
According to the plan, “These priority projects were selected based on key factors such as greenhouse gas reduction potential, resilience benefits, cost, and timeframe.” The plan details estimated costs, timeframes and performance indicators for each action so Riverside staff can budget for them and work toward implementing them.
In a memo to the village board, Assistant Village Manager Ashley Monroe emphasized that not every facet of the plan will result in immediate action.
“A plan identifies critical information and prioritizes the most important issues for our municipality to address. It is a living document that will be updated every five years,” she wrote.
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