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06/15/09
Sanitation ordinance update makes recycling mandatory in Cape Elizabeth
Council also signs on to national climate protection agreement
The Town of Cape Elizabeth passed two measures on June 8, 2009, that will make it a more "green" community.
Town councilors adopted a revised health and sanitation ordinance that makes recycling mandatory. At the same meeting, the council signed on to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, officially making Cape Elizabeth a "Cool Community".
The recycling mandate is an outgrowth of the council's recycling working group, which offered several recommendations to the council last December. It updates the town's Health and Sanitation Ordinance, providing that no recyclables be placed in the hopper. The update takes effect July 8, 2009.
The adopted amendments mirror a model provided by ecomaine, which handles waste disposal for member communities.
The plan, said Town Manager Michael McGovern, is to have an educator at the Recycling Center part-time to help guide citizens in adapting to the new policy, and to encourage recycling. "This will save taxpayers tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars," McGovern said.
The ordinance also prohibits salvaging of material from the recycling bins without prior approval.
One resident, Shore Road resident Chris Straw, spoke in favor of the new ordinance at a public hearing. He said he recently observed a truck dumping brush into the hopper on a day when it could have been left at the brush area for free. "I think it's a good ordinance and I encourage you to adopt it," Straw said.
In a related matter, the council also agreed to add Cape Elizabeth to the list of communities on the U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.
Carol Hubbard, a Valley Road resident spearheading the Cool Communities initiative locally, said, "Signing this agreement is really a way of sort of publicly stating that we are interested in working on global warming, and alternative energy sources."
Through the work of the ad hoc Alternative Energy Committee, Cape Elizabeth is already taking many of the steps involved in being a Cool Community. The steps include having such a committee, conducting a municipal energy audit, looking into alternative energy sources such as windmills, and monitoring recycling rates.
Hubbard said that citizen-based "Cool Cape" group would continue working with town, school and civic groups to further educate them on ways to reduce carbon footprint.
The council also directed McGovern to provide annual updates to the council on actions being taken by the town as they relate to the agreement.
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