An effort to get a charter change to address climate change on South Burlington’s Town Meeting ballot in March was recently voted down by the City Council.
The 3-2 vote on Nov. 30 nixed a proposal that could have eventually enabled the council to regulate thermal energy systems in existing residential and commercial buildings.
The council was trying to act upon recommendations set forth in a climate action plan, modeled after the state’s, that it approved in October.
Planning Commissioner Michael Mittag said he sees the vote as “a major obstacle” in the region’s efforts to step up on climate change.
“It’s now. It can’t wait,” said Mittag, who was on the task force that presented the plan to the city after 10 months of work.
Council members Tim Barritt, Tom Chittenden and Matt Cota voted against the measure, while chair Helen Riehle and member Meaghan Emery voted in favor.
Enacting a charter change involves a long and complex process that starts with voter approval before being passed by the Legislature and governor. At that point, the city could draft and implement the ordinance.
“All we are asking for is to make it possible in the future,” said Mittag. “This is sort of an enabling step, the first step.”
The city recently passed an ordinance to regulate heating systems and domestic water systems in new buildings and also rezoned land for a proposed Tesla dealership. The charter change, modeled after Burlington’s, would have allowed the city to bring existing buildings into the same purview.
But Mittag contended that the “no” vote sets the city back a year to make critical efforts to combat climate change.
“The targets we’ve set ourselves in our climate action plan are not easy to reach,” he said. “This just makes it that much more difficult. … It has essentially repudiated the work and recommendations of the climate action task force.”
Another concern: Cota’s participation to prevent voters from weighing in on it given his strong ties to the fuel industry. Cota led the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association for 15 years until this fall, and is chair of the operations committee of the Green Mountain Transit Authority.
Cota, who previously recused himself from the heating systems ordinance and the Tesla vote, told VTDigger on Tuesday he stopped working for the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association in September and therefore did not see any conflict in voting on the charter change proposal last month.
“I don’t own a company that does business with the city so there’s no financial benefit,” he said.
The city councilors who voted for the measure think otherwise.
“Yes, I think there is a conflict of interest but I believe our rules allow the individual to make that determination,” said Riehle, chair of the elected board.
Emery said she asked at the meeting why Cota didn’t recuse himself. She also said he spoke out against the previously passed ordinance as a member of the public, after recusing himself from that vote.
“Frankly, it didn’t make sense then, it doesn’t make sense now,” Cota said of the concerns on Tuesday. “You don’t benefit from a charter change.”
“Given discretion is the better part of valor, I think he should have recused himself as he did in the past,” Mittag said, adding that Cota’s clients in the auto and fuel industries could gain from the vote eventually even if he says he won’t.
Cota has since opened an energy and transportation consulting firm — Meadow Hill — and said he is not seeking reelection. His term ends in 2023. He wants to focus on the new business and said it has been an honor and a privilege to serve.
Riehle and Emery said they expect the council to take up the proposal again in the new year.
South Burlington’s climate action plan, adopted on Oct. 3, encourages the city to go further and make changes to the things it has control over, such as transportation, housing and heating, Riehl said.
“I happen to believe that we have to do as much as we can, as quickly as we can, to fight climate change and reduce our use of fossil fuels,” she said.