The debate over entering into an environmental certification program tied up the Havre de Grace City Council for another evening Monday, when council member Randy Craig slammed the resolution, which was approved by the council hastily while he was away last month.
The resolution to allow Havre de Grace to be registered with Sustainable Maryland Certified was originally tabled by its creator, Councilwoman Barbara Wagner, and then revoked after it became somewhat controversial.
The council held a public hearing on the measure Monday, when several residents spoke, mostly in support of the legislation as a step in improved environmental responsibility for Havre de Grace.
Craig, however, said the Sustainable Maryland Certified program is a new program that has unspecified costs for the city and will not recognize the environmental strides Havre de Grace has already made.
"I'm glad we're here now, talking about it and giving it the attention it deserves," he said about the resolution, adding that environmental choices are important to him. Craig works for the Maryland Environmental Service, "an independent state agency that aims to protect and enhance the state's air, land and water resources," according to MES' website.
"We don't always have a lot of press for it but our city does continue to make a tremendous effort to improving our environment," he said, listing the multi-million-dollar enhanced nutrient removal program as one of them.
"The city has been doing this for a long time, long before you could get a certificate for it," he said.
Craig disagreed with an assertion Wagner made several times during the night that the resolution will not obligate the city to pay for anything or do anything it does not choose to do.
He also said the program's website does not list any information about grants or other resources available to municipalities that take advantage of it.
"Regardless of what you've heard here, the resolution does obligate the city to take action," he said. "Everything the city does costs money, and to me it's quite odd that a resolution would say a city shall do things but pay no money to do it. That makes no sense to me."
"Even on their own website the program doesn't indicate that a municipality is sustainable, only that it's taken the first step on the journey," he said. "When I read that, it gave me a lot of concerns because I feel like the city of Havre de Grace has been on that journey for a long time."
Craig said instead of the SMC program, he hopes it is not too late for the city to apply for a program approved by the Maryland General Assembly in the Sustainable Communities Act of 2010.
"I do think it's important the city pursue a sustainable designation, just not one, not yet, from the SMC," he said.
Mayor Wayne Dougherty said the city would be in the running in April for the state program Craig mentioned.
Residents spoke both in favor of the resolution and against it, and Wagner read e-mails sent in support of the proposal.
Gary Davis, of Locust Road, said he supports the SMC program because it does not obligate the city to use any funds and it is almost impossible in Maryland to get grants without a sustainability clause.
Chuck Maslin, of Washington Street, said he owns three businesses that are on the state's green registry but is opposed to the resolution.
"I don't see where this is going to help us with sustainability, recycling, saving the bay, any of the things we'd like to hope would be in this," he said.
"In fact, I find some of the things in this resolution to be irresponsible…Nobody has any idea what this is going to cost."
"This is going to cost us a lot of money. Until the mayor and council knows what it's going to cost, I think it's irresponsible to pass a resolution obligating the city to do things," he said.
In response to the residents, Wagner said there is no requirement to implement a green purchasing policy and said SMC has some grant opportunities.
"There should be significant cost savings to the city after implementation of some of the initiatives," she said.