This article by Claire Potter was first published Sept. 9 in the Valley News.
HARTFORD — The Selectboard this week unanimously voted to implement an ambitious climate action plan, and the town has hired an environmental sustainability coordinator to play a leading role in implementing Hartford’s emissions-reduction goals.
“We can stall and try to envision the future, or we can move forward and act with the best information that we have on hand,” Erik Krauss, who chairs the town’s Climate Advisory Committee, said at the Selectboard’s meeting on Tuesday.
Hartford declared a “climate emergency” in December 2019 and resolved to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions townwide by 2030. Hartford voters passed a binding article requiring the town’s municipal operations to achieve net-zero by 2027. The consultant paleBLUEdot worked with a team of Hartford residents to develop a plan that would help the town reach its goals.
“We have the mandate, the desire to move forward as fast as we can,” said Kim Souza, a member of the Selectboard.
The approved resolution commits Hartford to amending the procurement policies — which determine what contractors, supplies, services and materials that the Town of Hartford uses — to take greenhouse gas emissions into account by the end of February 2022, pending legal review.
Town Manager Tracy Yarlott-Davis will also work with staff to develop a work sequence and timeline — complete with funding and staffing estimates — for the 103 actions that the plan slates for the first of three implementation phases by February. These strategies include coordinating a group purchase program for residents and small business owners to reduce the cost of heat pumps, requiring fuel dealers to report their sales and amending the zoning ordinance to allow higher-density development.
The Selectboard also resolved to identify further funding for the “climate action reserve fund,” create a team to oversee the implementation and direct the town manager to track and explain progress toward emissions-reduction goals annually.
The Selectboard amended the timeline suggested by the Climate Advisory Committee to ensure that the town staff had realistic goals. The draft resolution would have set a December 2021 deadline for the implementation plan, which it shifted back three months.
“I err towards being conservative about this. I don’t want to ask my staff to continue to stretch,” Yarlott-Davis said. “I would rather be conservative and say we do have a little bit of extra time here, that’s great, let’s do a little bit extra more.”
After a months-long search, Yarlott-Davis announced at Tuesday’s meeting that Dana Clawson will be the environmental sustainability coordinator after he moves from Somerville, Mass. He will work directly for the town manager and advise other municipal departments on sustainability and the staff’s implementation of the climate action plan. Geoff Martin, who now works at the Two-Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission, previously occupied the role when the official title was “energy coordinator.”
Clawson, who will be paid $54,932, has a master’s degree in public administration from Bridgewater State University, where he concentrated in community development and nonprofit administration. Yarlott-Davis told the Selectboard that he has “significant experience in working with public agencies, community groups and residents of all ages on energy use, sustainability projects and weatherization.” Most recently, he advised homeowners trying to meet Massachusetts’ emissions-reduction requirements and reduce their carbon footprint. He will start in October.
Claire Potter is a Report for America corps member. She can be reached at cpotter@vnews.com or 603-727- 3242.
