A city advisory group says a citywide mapping project that identifies neighborhoods facing the greatest environmental risks should be given priority for funding under a Boulder County grant program.
The mapping would provide residents in Longmont with on-the-ground information about the best way to spend time and resources to help sustainability efforts, and could spur efforts such as the planting of community gardens, according to members of Longmont’s Sustainability Advisory Board.
“We could make the better determinations of the best use of our money,” said board member James Metcalf.
Board members this month voted unanimously to send their recommendation backing the mapping proposal to city council for approval. The advisory board also said a “climate equity and engagement” specialist should be hired using the county the grant, which totaled $125,000 for Longmont in 2020.
City council is expected to accept the board’s recommendations as part of an application to Boulder County for the second year of the grant. Council is slated to talk about sustainability efforts tonight during its discussion of the 2021 budget.
Funding for the grant comes from revenues generated through a 0.125 sales and use tax approved by Boulder County voters in 2016 to encourage environmental sustainability. The grants are awarded to community projects that encourage reduced water and energy consumption, recycling, local farming and mass transit.
In 2020, the first year the grant became available, Longmont used the funding to establish a mini-grant program for neighborhoods for projects boosting sustainability as well as a “Equitable Carbon-Free Transportation Roadmap,” said Aterah Nusrat, Longmont’s sustainability grant and program coordinator.
The 2020 grant also funded a farmers market voucher program for recipients of federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, benefits, Nusrat said.
The 2021 grant will likely be slightly less than this year’s, Nusrat said. The city also is likely to pitch in $33,000 in matching funds, she said.
The engagement specialist would head outreach efforts for programs highlighted by the Climate Action Task Force. City staff members are currently paring down 27 recommendations from the task force to put into future action.
The mapping project would be aligned with the city’s efforts to boost projects that promote climate adaptation and resilience, Nusrat said.
“It would help us better understand the community’s vulnerability to climate impacts,” Nusrat told Sustainability Advisory Board members.
The advisory board also voted to recommend expanding existing programs including the neighborhood grant program.
CORRECTION: This story correctly idenfies the recepient of a Boulder County Sustainability grant as the Equitable Carbon Free Tansportation Roadmap
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