Leaning green
By LYNNETTE HINTZE
New City Hall in Whitefish may incorporate eco-friendly technology
The Daily Inter Lake
Whitefish's new City Hall could have a dirt roof and a water-collection system that would store runoff for irrigation.
Green technology will be considered as Whitefish embarks on construction of a new facility to house city offices.
"In the next two to three weeks I'll begin to look at green technology," City Manager Gary Marks told the City Council on Monday.
Designing and building a City Hall that promotes environmental sustainability could add from 10 percent to 30 percent to the cost, so the city likely will be "looking for a balance" as city leaders consider green construction that's cost-effective, he said.
"It can be expensive, and money will be a limiting factor for" green construction, he said.
Council members praised Marks for looking at environmental-friendly construction.
"I'm tickled to see you're considering green technology," council member Nancy Woodruff said. "You know your council well. We should be leading the way on that."
Council member Nick Palmer congratulated Marks for "going in that direction."
Green construction has gained momentum during the past few years as energy consumption continues to climb and reports about global warming have solidified.
Chicago City Hall featured the country's first rooftop garden on a municipal building, and several major North American cities have followed suit, including New York, Portland and Toronto.
Ford Motor Co.'s "living" roof atop a plant in Dearborn, Mich., soaks up rainwater to reduce runoff.
A number of cities across the country, including San Francisco (and neighboring Pleasanton, Berkeley and San Mateo), Boston, Seattle and Scottsdale, Ariz., are leading the way with laws that require new public buildings to be green, according to a Sustainable Times article by Sally Deneen and Brian Howard.
It's buildings, not vehicles, that are the biggest energy hogs, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation maintains. The use of commercial and residential buildings in the United States consumes an estimated 65 percent of all electricity, 12 percent of drinkable water and 40 percent of all raw materials.
The National Association of Home Builders maintains green construction isn't always that much more expensive than conventional construction. Some green building ideas, such as positioning windows to best take advantage of natural light, don't cost any more and can save money, according to the association's Web site.
Council member Velvet Phillips-Sullivan said she'd like Whitefish to earn the Environmental Protection Agency's designation as a green community. A community applies for the designation after it has completed a community assessment, trends analysis, vision statement and action plan.
MARKS IS negotiating with BNSF Railway Co. for two-thirds of an acre the city needs to buy to complete a building site for City Hall north of the Whitefish Library. The railroad intends to move its parking lot to another location.
The timetable will depend on how quickly BNSF will move the parking lot, Marks said. In a best-case scenario, construction of City Hall could begin in 2008, with the city moving in by the end of that year.
The city would sell its current facility at the corner of Baker Avenue and Second Street for redevelopment by the private sector. That money would help pay for the new City Hall, Marks said.
Whitefish also plans to build a new emergency-services facility on its Baker Avenue property when it sells the downtown City Hall.
"My desire is to fund both," Marks said, adding that he's looking at tax-increment financing, federal grants and possibly a bond issue that would need voter approval. "We may go forward with just one facility right now. We're not necessarily moving forward in tandem."
As the city embarks on the design for a new City Hall, citizen participation will be built into the process, he said.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com