Seven months ago, the City of Moab hired a new sustainability director, Alexi Lamm. When Lamm started at the position, she outlined ambitious goals: she said she wanted to finalize the city’s dark sky regulations, prioritize Moab’s place in the Utah 100 Communities project, enhance recycling outreach, and complete the city’s sustainability action plan.
During the March 28 City Council meeting, she provided the council with an update as to what her department has been up to.
One of Lamm’s current projects is to upgrade the city’s current electric vehicle charging stations; she said Moab is a priority to receive funding from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program through the U.S. Department of Transportation. Upgrades will hopefully come in the fall, she said.
Lamm is also chipping away at creating a sustainability action plan—this is something previous sustainability directors have tried to do, but no plan has yet been passed. Lamm is starting with background research, she said: she’s been looking into Moab’s greenhouse gas inventories, finding that most greenhouse gas produced in Moab is from transportation and mobile sources.
The plan will be completed mostly by consultants. So far, Lamm said, she’s received five proposals. It’ll include sections on ecosystems and air quality; energy efficiency, renewable energy, and buildings; land use and planning; transportation; and materials management; it will also include the existing water conservation plan. The plan, as with any city master plan, will lay the groundwork for decision-making in the future.
Moab is part of the Utah 100 Communities project, also called the “Community Renewable Energy Agency” (CREA). The project is chugging along: Lamm said the city is currently working on drafting a utility agreement, which will be finalized at the CREA April board meeting.
The project goal is for each community involved to develop a net-100% renewable electricity option for Rocky Mountain Power customers in each place; meaning the amount of electricity used annually would be matched entirely by renewable generation. Eighteen communities in Utah are participating, including Grand County and Castle Valley.
The final ordinance, to establish the energy use framework in Moab, is still months out.
