Highland board targets emissions
Start of sustainability commission OK’d 4-1
After several meetings of backand-forth over the last two months, the Town of Highland now has a Sustainability Commission.
The Town Council at its rescheduled Wednesday night meeting voted 4-1, with Councilman Roger Sheeman, R-5, casting the lone “no” vote, a resolution to establish the resident-helmed Highland Neighbors for Sustainability Commission. Councilman Mark Schocke crafted the proclamation to see the commission act as a “an advisory associate partner organization with the Civil Town of Highland” that will issue a best-practices report on environmental sustainability to the council at least once a year; as well, it’ll publish quarterly pieces in the town’s Gazebo newsletter, according to the proclamation.
The commission also is allowed to apply for grants, with the Redevelopment Commission acting as its advisor and the Town Council casting final approval, the proclamation reads.
The town, according to the proclamation, could decide to allow the commission to become part of the Civil Town after an initial probationary period ending Dec. 15, 2023; the council can also decide to disband the commission at its discretion during the same time.
Schocke said that while he’s been skeptical of the need for the commission, he hopes it could turn into the governmental entity it wants to become.
“(The proclamation I wrote is) close to that, but I think that if we have a really good working relationship and you can prove yourselves within the year — which I see no reason why you can’t — then I think we can consider it with the way it’s written,” Schocke, R-3, said. “This is my good-faith effort to make a good stride toward sustainability.”
Sheeman said he had some issues with the proclamation’s wording, namely the use of the word “must” in relation to entities working with the commission. “Must,” Sheeman said, implies that entities have to work with them, and he objects to that idea.
Sheeman then proposed tabling the motion again until it could be further discussed, but his motion failed for lack of a second.
The idea came out of results
compiled through the Indiana University Environmental Resilience Cohort, a two-year program that provided the town an intern who collected and analyzed energy data primarily from NIPSCO for 10 weeks between April 2020 and September 2021, the Post-Tribune reported previously.
Once the data was collected, the intern presented it to the town, and administrators would have the opportunity to craft an action plan to reduce greenhouse gases, which in turn would help the town save money long-term as well as foster community input for the plan.
Four Northwest Indiana municipalities — Gary, Valparaiso, Michigan City, and LaPorte — have some form of sustainability commissions in place.
In a letter sent to the council last week obtained by the Post-Tribune, commission member Connie Wachala acknowledged that the proclamation stopped short of what the group wants, but they “appreciate (the council’s) encouragement of our grass roots efforts by offering us an opportunity to partner with you on sustainability issues.”
In other business, the council approved the hiring of three new police officers: Joshua Kempke, Shane Geringer and Addison Barnhill, who Clerk-Treasurer Mark Herak swore in; and approved an 8% raise for police officers and a 4% raise for hourly employees.