A former Topsham planner has been hired by the city of Bath to serve in a new position as director of sustainability and environment, with an emphasis on climate change.
“Integrate sustainable practices into municipal operations, infrastructure, services, and policies,” according to Rod Melanson.
He formerly performed natural resource planning at the Topsham Planning Office. His academic background is in community planning, forestry, and recreation and park management.
To assist identify the places in Bath that need the greatest attention, he stated, “an urgent step for me will be finishing a vulnerability assessment that will become part of the climate action plan.”
Melanson also made reference to the significance of energy conservation and said that the city might install LED streetlights and look into solar power sources.
Rod Melanson praised Bath’s “community engagement, passion, and leadership as all being extremely promising.” It is both extremely proactive and supportive.
Bath formed a Climate Action Commission in 2019 to find the best strategies for addressing climate challenges, however, due to the pandemic, the commission didn’t start up in earnest until 2021.
According to John Zittel, the commission’s co-chairman, the commission’s mandate is to “encourage actions to lessen the effects of climate change through law, planning, and education.”
Pat Perkins, the other co-chair of the commission, stated, “We want climate change to be taken into consideration in some way in all city decisions.”
In the upcoming months, community engagement activities with Bath locals will be held to determine how they feel about climate challenges and what they might do about them. Melanson’s new position will also prioritize talking with residents.
People have a difficult time determining what kinds of things they can actually perform because there is so much information available, according to Zittel. It appears that information is in high demand.
Bath was greatly influenced by the governor’s office’s creation of the state-wide Community Resilience Plan to increase its climate activities. In order to aid municipal governments in making the switch to clean energy and strengthening their local communities’ resistance to the consequences of climate change, the program offers funds to them.
In order to fulfill our responsibility, such as cutting emissions, Zittel added, “We need to assist the city and neighborhood.” “A certain degree of global warming will occur, and we will experience some effects. One of the main effects we anticipate in Bath is sea-level rise. It will have a very noticeable effect on Bath’s waterfront.
Marc Meyers, the city manager, expressed his excitement about Rod joining the organization in a news statement. He brings a plethora of expertise in conservation, environmental projects, and municipal planning to Bath. He is an excellent choice to continue the City’s work on climate change.
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