City Council Environmental, Sustainable Growth and Green Policy Committee meeting is today, May 10th at 5:30 p.m.

CITIZENS CONCERNED WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL FUTURE OF THE CITY SHOULD TRY TO ATTEND THE FOLLOWING MEETING. DETAILS BELOW: MEETING: TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2011, 5:30 PM CITY HALL 4TH FLOOR City Council Environmental, Sustainable Growth and Green Policy Committee Minority Leader John Murtagh, Chair Council President Chuck Lesnick, Member Majority Leader Patricia McDow, Member Councilmember Dennis Shepherd, Member Councilmember John Larkin, Member AGENDA: Steep Slopes Legislation and the Green Building Resolution Steep Slopes Legislation ties and many other cities around the country. Yonkers is in need of a specific policy and guidelines for construction on the city’s many hills so that disasters like the construction fiascos on Upper Warburton Avenue will not be repeated. The Green Policy Task Force has recommended to the City Council that a professional land use and engineering consultant be hired to review and make any necessary changes to the current draft of the Steep Slopes legislation, as it requires specific expertise that no one on the Council or Task Force can provide. A consultant had been recommended and has submitted his resume and proposed contract, which John Murtagh and Chuck Lesnick have received. (Corporation Counsel has determined that an RFP is not necessary on this project.) YCSD would like to see the Council approve the contract to hire the proposed consultant to help draft the Steep Slopes legislation. This is the way to create SMART DEVELOPMENT. Green Building Resolution Nearly 18 months ago, in December 2009, the City Council voted to approve Sustainable Building “green” construction policies for the city. Mayor Amicone promptly vetoed that legislation and announced that in spring 2010 he would produce his own version of a sustainable building law. Months later, the city hired the Pace University Land Use Law Center to consult with the GPTF, the City Law Department, the Planning Department, and various well-known developers in order to craft a policy document that would guide the city toward this essential legislation that eventually, it is hoped, will lead the city toward a more sustainable future as all kinds of building construction is required to manage stormwater, upgrade energy usage, etc. Pace produced its report in August, 2010. Pace proposed that the first step in this lengthy process be a simple Resolution that proposes the city move forward with a Green Building Team to develop a sustainability plan and to determine ways to administer said legislation. At its meeting on May 10 the Environmental, Sustainable Growth and Green Policy Committee will finally review this Resolution. Should the Committee vote in favor of sending the Resolution to the Council, then the Resolution will be vetted by the entire body and either approved, allowing the city Planning Department to advance to the next step and assemble the Green Building Team to work on the substance of the Sustainability Law, or disapproved, in which case Yonkers will probably never have any green/sustainable/ energy efficient buildings. In the 21st Century the ONLY SMART DEVELOPMENT is Sustainable Development.