The Town of Castle Rock Planning Commission has been working the better part of this year to
develop a basis for acommunitywide
Sustainability Action Plan. Now, they want to hear from residents at a Nov. 12 public input workshop.
The Sustainability
ActionPlan public workshop is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Town Hall, 100 N. Wilcox St. Commissioners will speak to a variety of sustainability
topics including energy efficiency, alternative energy, recycling, water conservation and green building.
"We're really hoping for a good turn out for this first workshop," said Planning Commissioner Leslie Lee. "We know there is a lot of interest within the community, and we want to be sure we're using our resources as efficiently as we can. We've already had residents interested in implementing progressive sustainable measures, and we want to stay ahead of the curve in supporting them."
Town Council made environmental sustainability one of its key initiatives in 2008 and inspired Town staff to volunteer their time to work toward a more sustainable Castle Rock to benefit Town residents. From there, Town staff expanded on what could be done to reduce costs and impacts on the environment and created an environmental sustainability program called Project Green. Some of their efforts included traffic lights being converted to LED lights; recycling bullet casings and bullet-proof vests; installation of sophisticated irrigation systems with weather stations that read wind, temperature and evapotranspiration rates; Town publications being printed with soy-based inks on recycled paper; the purchase of hybrid vehicles; and much more.
"Sustainability is a hot topic in communities throughout the country," said Barbara Dash, Planning Commission chair. "We want to tailor a plan specifically for Castle Rock.
The Town has instituted a program internally to carefully steward resources and realize economic benefits from doing it, so now we want to involve residents and businesses to make sustainability a communitywide effort."
All Castle Rock residents and the business community are invited to attend. Light snacks will be served. E-mail Heather Vidlock, hvidlock@CRgov.com with questions.