2017 8
RESOLUTION R-8-17
TOWN OF CHEVERLY
GREEN CLIMATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the Town of Cheverly recognizes the continued health and prosperity of our Cheverly community as inseparably intertwined with the health and sustainability of the land, trees, animals, plants, shared water and air that comprise our green infrastructure.
WHEREAS, the strength and sustainability of action within our Cheverly community lies in the relationship between extraordinary levels of citizen initiative and leadership, community and staff engagement, and Town partnership and support.
WHEREAS, Cheverly residents have long recognized a connection between our natural environment and ourselves, with efforts extending from the 1970s—dedicating several thousand hours of restoration and advocacy to protecting our floodplains and natural areas, including Lower Beaverdam Creek, Euclid Woods, the Cheverly Nature Park, and extending to the Quincy Run Watershed.
WHEREAS, the relationship between the Cheverly community and Town government has made possible expanded efforts in recycling, private property composting and rain barrels, yard waste to leaf mulch, community gardens, fresh food donation, locally-sourced community market, local stream cleanups and storm water management projects.
WHEREAS, the Town of Cheverly, its Council and Staff, have continued to learn and grow in support of our community sustainability and environmental goals—purchasing, preserving and restoring green space throughout our town, amending Town code to permit private yard apiaries, offering free front and backyard tree planting, installing two 1,000 gallon rainwater cisterns, utilizing native plants and trees, converting to LED lighting throughout Town buildings, installing a 2.4 kilowatt capacity wind turbine, establishing a Green Purchasing Policy, a practice of maintaining and repairing vehicles and equipment, upgrading road-salt shelter and vehicle maintenance facilities, installing a Public Works yard oil and grease trap and Town Park step pools and filtering channels to remove surface water contaminants from entering our critical watershed areas, and donations of trees, recycling bins and recycling support to local elementary schools.
WHEREAS, a dedicated team of Cheverly residents devoted three years of talent and effort to drafting a Cheverly Green Infrastructure Plan to “preserve, restore, and sustain the natural environment of Cheverly and surrounding areas as an intact and healthy ecosystem, […] balancing the fulfillment of human needs and protection of the natural environment.”
WHEREAS, the Cheverly Town Council unanimously passed Resolution R-6-11 on September 8th, 2011, adopting the Green Infrastructure Plan, thereby welcoming the plan as a guide for proactive and sustainable future development, redevelopment, and investment policy decisions within and around the Town of Cheverly.
WHEREAS, on October 13, 2011~the Cheverly Town Council established the Cheverly Green Infrastructure Committee to oversee implementation of the Cheverly Green Infrastructure Plan.
WHEREAS, Cheverly Green Infrastructure Committee, serving as a Green Team, successfully secured recognition of the Town of Cheverly as Sustainable Maryland Certified in September 2014—for its community-wide commitment “to strengthening the social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainability.”
WHEREAS, a breadth of community organizations and dedicated individuals have installed rain gardens, supported stormwater management installations, converted to renewable energy sources, gleaned metal from household trash waste for recycling and charitable funds, offered locally sourced plant sales and organized green home tours, created certified backyard habitats and pollinator gardens, led workshops on green practices, initiated 2 bio-blitzes, conducted native plant surveys and made them available online, restored wildlife habitats, offered trail walks to youth and adults, initiated bird counts, Green Cheverly photo contests, removed invasive plants, surveyed protected native plants, and developed a Cheverly Conservation Alliance to coordinate green practice efforts and programming across community organizations; and
WHEREAS, these same community organizations and dedicated individuals have consistently and powerfully voiced on behalf of good stewardship and the nexus between the fate of our natural environment and our individual and community health and prosperity.
WHEREAS, the Town of Cheverly recognizes that consensus exists among the world’s leading climate scientists that global warming caused by emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities and the simultaneous destruction or degradation of our green infrastructure that removes those gases is driving global climate change and are among the most significant problems facing the world today; and
WHEREAS, the Town of Cheverly holds that our community would be directly impacted by unchecked climate change and recognizes the harsh reality that what we have combined to accomplish is not yet enough, and that our people and our natural environment would suffer greatly as a result of inaction on climate change; and
WHEREAS, the Town of Cheverly also recognizes that documented impacts of global warming induced climate change include but are not limited to increased occurrences of extreme weather events (e.g. droughts and floods), adverse impacts on ecosystems, biodiversity, demographic patterns and economic value chains; and
WHEREAS, the State of Maryland has mandated statewide reductions of 25 percent in Maryland’s greenhouse gas emissions from 2006 levels by year 2020.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL OF CHEVERLy; that the Town of Cheverly hereby recognizes that the responsibility to take action to limit climate change extends to our community; furthermore
The Town of Cheverly hereby extends both sincere gratitude and a call for continued partnership to those individuals, organizations, staff, and citizen legislators who have had a role in supporting the people and natural environment of our community and honors all those who serve in this effort as green stewards.
The Town of Cheverly maintains that continued community partnership and investment to limit climate change directly honors the values and commitment of our community as demonstrated over decades and by generations of families that have called Cheverly home; therefore
The Town of Cheverly proclaims our commitment to continuing to learn, innovate, and partner within our community and across municipal borders—to identify opportunities to positively impact energy usage, improve stormwater management, preserve and restore the health and biodiversity of Cheverly’s green infrastructure, and plan for sustainability that extends health and prosperity to both our people and our planet; furthermore
The Town of Cheverly specifically commits to continuing to prioritize strategic policies and programs that promote the long-term goal of greenhouse gas emissions reduction, while maximizing economic and social co-benefits of such action. To these ends, the Town also commits to the protection and restoration of the remaining green infrastructure hubs, their biodiversity, ecosystem services, and social and economic benefits to our Cheverly community. The Town of Cheverly extends this commitment into evaluating capital improvement projects, operational budgeting, and strategic planning; and, in partnership with community organizations and citizenry, commits to sharing an annual reporting of cumulative community and Town actions that further green practices,
The Town of Cheverly proclaims that, in support of partnering across municipal borders for these endeavors, the Mayor and Council will lend their names to nonpartisan, national efforts of Climate Mayors and the Sustainable Maryland-endorsed “We Are Still In” movement—to mobilize local and state governments in advocating local, national, and global action on climate change and sustainable development.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution shall be effective on the date of its enactment.
ADOPTED by the Mayor and Town Council of the Town of Cheverly, Maryland, at a Regular Meeting on November 9, 2017 at which meeting copies were available to the public for inspection.
Adopted_______________________
Attest:___________________
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Mayor
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Councilmember Councilmember
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Councilmember Councilmember
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Councilmember Councilmember