New Mount Prospect sustainability committee focuses on education, funding at initial session

Sustainability is one of Mount Prospect's strategic priorities.

The village took a step toward turning strategy into action Monday when its Sustainability Ad Hoc Committee met for the first time.

Alex Bertolucci, assistant to Village Manager Mike Cassady, led the discussion and provided the framework for the committee's work moving forward. He said the goal is to have an initial report before the village board by February.

Mount Prospect already has endorsed the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Greenest Region Compact, which promotes sustainability in Chicago-area communities. The village also has been active in promoting solar power, including through information sessions titled "Solar Power Hours," which provided the basics of solar power and its financial implications for homeowners.

Among those participating in the discussion this week were village Trustee Terri Gens, a sustainability advocate, and former Mayor Arlene Juracek.

"This village is in a unique spot of recognizing the regional role," Juracek said, a consequence of its work on watershed and stormwater management. "I think we have a leg up on other communities that might be more insular. It's just a matter now of coalescing it into a really strong action plan."

Some of Monday's initial discussion was devoted to funding. Juracek said it would be important to look for grants and mentioned she is a member of the Illinois Finance Authority, which has been designated a climate bank to leverage public-private partnerships to fund clean energy projects across the state.

Committee members also recognized the importance of public education.

"I think we are going to have to help manage the messaging that the village puts out to the community," Juracek said. "Because as many of us embrace sustainability, we've got the naysayers out there."

Discussion also included multimodal transportation.

"Yes, electric cars are better than gas, but the motivation should be what can we do to get people out of cars," said Ewa Weir, also a member of the village's planning and zoning commission. "Can there be more pedestrian ways or bike paths or some way of encouraging people to take buses and trains? We're giving away free energy for people to charge their electric cars, but we're not encouraging people to take public transportation."