Palm Coast Gets Silver Certification from the Florida Green Building Coalition
Designation based on how City facilities, regulations, and operations meet the criteria of the Green Local Government Standard.
Palm Coast, Fllorida – April 8, 2009 – Mayor Jon Netts and the Palm Coast City Council proudly accepted the official Silver Certification Award last night from the Florida Green Building Coalition. Palm Coast was recognized, on a statewide level, for their actions to help the environment and to save taxpayer dollars. Receipt of the designation is based on City facilities, regulations and operations and how these aspects meet criteria of the Green Local Government Standard. Examples include requiring developments to include native, drought-tolerant vegetation in landscape plans, coordinating an intricate bicycle/pedestrian network into the transportation planning process, offering free trees to the community, preserving environmentally sensitive land, developing community recycle plans, receiving national Tree City USA and Growth Awards, creating a reclaimed water infrastructure and implementing a water conservation education program. Earning Silver Certification fulfills a major City Council vision principle for citizens to respect and protect the natural environment by operating in a ‘green-sensitive’ manner and conserving natural resources. Mr. Terry Janssen, Board Vice President for the Florida Green Building Coalition presented the Silver Certification to Mayor Netts and the Council.
Green in more ways than one
The recent change from not asking for the $486,000 plus Neighborhood Stabilization Act money for rental units, to asking for it, was a green to red ripening of the Mayor and councils minds. The first meeting they had on the subject Mayor Netts said he did not want the money, and Jim Landon said are you sure, and Netts replied yes. Well everyone heard of this and said that was stupid, as it’s free money to help put people to work. So just before the deadline the request was change to cover up the green and make it red, as that was what the tax payers were seeing.