First, a little housekeeping issue: I will continue to provide a link to my blog posts on the various community FB pages.....!
Earlier this week, I was informed that the Township had won The Governor's Environmental Excellence Award in the category of Climate Change & Clean Air. The award recognizes individuals, businesses, institutions, communities, organizations, educators, youth, and others who have made significant environmental protection contributions in New Jersey. Apparently, we are THAT good!
The Governor's
Environmental Excellence Awards Program is New Jersey's premier awards program for
recognizing outstanding environmental performance, programs, and projects
throughout the state. It is sponsored
by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the New Jersey
Infrastructure Bank, and the New Jersey Corporation for Advanced Technology, in
partnership with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.
To those residents that want to know
a little more about our efforts, I offer the following link to our submission
to the NJ DEP for consideration in this award category:
I hope the
residents of this community take pride and ownership in this award. It is validation for the years of hard work
and commitment to pursuing and completing meaningful projects (mostly funded by
various grants) to reduce our carbon footprint and be a community that leads in sustainability. For many years, our elected officials have embraced
the idea of being environmentally responsible in our municipal operations. This policy directive empowered Township
employees to do what they do to turn policy into actual change. It requires teamwork and sustained commitment
from many, that do the work behind the scenes and out of view of the residents
they serve.
Special acknowledgment goes to Mayor
James Kownacki, Council Members Michael Powers, Cathleen Lewis, Christopher
Bobbitt, and John Ryan for their continued commitment to making sustainable
action a policy of their administration.
Also, our Municipal Engineer James Parvesse and Engineer/Grant Specialist
Brenda Kraemer, Public Works Director Greg Whitehead, and our CFO Peter Kiriakatis,
have primary roles for the projects that we make happen. Stay tuned for more projects as this is a
never-ending process!
Double Special Acknowledgment (is
that a thing?) to Council Member Christopher Bobbitt, who in 2018 was our Mayor
and made sustainability the focus for his 2-year term….and was the motivating
force for our amped-up efforts that resulted in this prestigious award!
NOTE: "In January 2020, a new "Green Committee"
was formed, comprised of a representative mix of residents, businesses, and schools
that met to identify community-wide priorities.
Climate change was one of four actions discussed, and a subcommittee was
formed to investigate ten actions in that category further. The Green Committee and other stakeholders
will be valuable participants in the development of the Community Energy Plan,
which is viewed as one of the next steps to showcase the Township's emissions
reductions while planning to implement these strategies for further reductions
on a community-wide level."[1]
Here is the link to the Green Committee page on our Township
website: http://www.lawrencetwp.com/com-erc.html
Here is the link to more information about the Community Energy
Plan from the NJ BPU's Clean Energy Program: https://njcleanenergy.com/commercial-industrial/programs/community-energy-plans
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