Greenprint Could Get City Council Thumbs Up Wednesday

There are more than 100,000 people living in Clearwater, and an average citizen produces 69 pounds of greenhouse gas, seven pounds of solid waste, drives more than 25 miles while using 81 gallons of water in a day, according to the draft of the Clearwater Greenprint.

The Greenprint is a plan to reduce those numbers by establishing sustainable building and living practices, some of which could shape city codes and future development. However officials stress that participation in it is voluntary for residents.

And the public has one more chance to talk about the plan when the City Council votes on whether or not to implement it at its meeting at 6 p.m. at , 112 S Osceola Ave.

“We get the sense that many people want to reduce their energy consumption,” said Lauren Matzke, who works in the city’s planning department and helped draft the plan. “(The Greenprint) is a road map of sorts for these people.”

City staff and planners from Renaissance Planning Group worked for a year and half developing the 68 page document and four subsequent appendices that make up the plan.

It was created after presenting project information at 19 neighborhood meetings and various community events, gathering input from 320 residents.

The plan calls for reducing energy consumption, traffic congestion and green house gas emissions, officials said.

There are eight sustainable strategies as part of reaching goals in the plan including creating a "Green Clearwater" website, expanding the city's reclaimed water system, adding alternative fuel vehicles into the city's fleet, creating more local sources for food production and creating green businesses and jobs.

Another part of the plan calls for creating an energy manager position that comes with a $75,000 a year salary. However, if the plan passes, filling that role would not be for at least five years, officials said.

Many of the goals rely on city efforts and community participation. However, just getting residents to recycle has been a challenge, about 6 percent participate while the state average is closer to 30 percent, according to the Greenprint.

Vice Mayor George Cretekos said the goals that are set should be attainable and questioned what would happen if the bar is not reached.

“If we are not going to set goals for ourselves, but have this general feel good plan, then we're really not trying," Cretekos said. "Then why are we going through the exercises.”

Michael Delk, director of planning, said the Greenprint goals are achievable and part of the plan includes reassessing them every five years.

“I think the whole Greenprint plan is far beyond just the city,” said Mayor Frank Hibbard. “I think we are already committed to this.”

If you go:

What: Clearwater Greenprint

When: 6 p.m.

Where: , 112 S Osceola Ave