REST IN PEACE COACH LOU HOLTZ

YOU WERE VERY KIND TO A YOUNG JOURNALIST FOUR DECADES AGO

To some, he was controversial.

I certainly hold the opposite political views of the late Lou Holtz.

But we shared a love of Kent State, where we both got our career starts.

He was very kind, patient and accommodating with me when I interviewed him in early 1985.

“I'm not the brightest guy, I have a lisp and a body that looks like it has suffered from beriberi and scurvy, but I've learned to build up my self esteem,”

Was Lou Holtz’s best quote in my Daily Kent Stater interview published 2-5-85.

IT'S NOT EASY GOING GREEN

MUNICIPALITIES MUST GET CREATIVE TO FUND RESILIENCY IN A                TIME OF BOTH GREATER NEED AND REDUCED FEDERAL FUNDING

A 5-megawatt solar installation is underway at the I-95 landfill complex in Lorton, Va.

The ground-mounted system will be built and operated by Madison Energy through a power purchase agreement with Fairfax County.

John Morrill, Fairfax County’s director of the office of environmental and energy coordination, said the county’s Department of Housing office building was made more efficient and sustainable with rooftop solar panels.

The building retrofit adds a new life to the structure and the energy savings — about $75,000 per year — will pay off the total cost of its capital improvements in 15 to 20 years.

“Beyond cost savings, there are environmental benefits. Reducing emissions at the power plant helps air quality for everyone,” Morrill said.

The county replaced a gas boiler with a heat pump plus solar at a large recreation center.

In addition to being more efficient, the upgrade reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

The county is in its fifth and final years of converting its streetlights to LED.

While the bulb investment is about $8 million total, Morrill said the more efficient bulbs allow the county to avoid about $3 million per year in energy costs to operate the more than 50,000 streetlights.

As the price of energy continues to soar, the cost avoidance could be even greater.

IT'S NOT EASY GOING GREEN

MUNICIPALITIES MUST GET CREATIVE TO FUND RESILIENCY IN A                TIME OF BOTH GREATER NEED AND REDUCED FEDERAL FUNDING

John Morrill, Fairfax County’s director of the office of environmental and energy coordination, has worked on efficient energy and green initiatives in the greater Washington, D.C., area since the 1980s.

Morrill said the goal in Fairfax County, Va., is to make energy efficiency self-funding.

In June, the county broke ground for the construction of a five-megawatt solar array on a closed landfill.

When operating in spring 2026, the solar is expected to provide about five percent of the power needed to operate more than 500 county buildings and over 50,000 streetlights in Fairfax.

The growing county of about 1.2 million has set ambitious goals of getting 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040.

Making sure new facilities are built energy efficient and spending capital dollars to improve efficiency is a way of saving power expenses, Morrill said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IT'S NOT EASY GOING GREEN

MUNICIPALITIES MUST GET CREATIVE TO FUND RESILIENCY IN A                TIME OF BOTH GREATER NEED AND REDUCED FEDERAL FUNDING

Miami Beach’s Bayshore Park, with 19.4 acres of open space and active play areas built in place of a shuttered par-3 golf course, features nature-based resiliency.

In the center of the $42-million park, a one-acre lake was created to retain stormwater.

A future phase will connect the surrounding neighborhood’s drainage system to the park, providing extra capacity during heavy rains.

Maurice Gibb Park was completely rebuilt with a living shoreline of mangroves, raised seawall, native trees and increasing drainage capacity.

Brittany Bay Park on the Intracoastal Waterway uses a living shoreline to protect the community from storms and sunny-day flooding.

In July, Miami Beach adopted a Sea Level Rise Adaptation Plan.

It was funded by a $454,000 Resilient Florida Grant and another $100,000 in matching city funds that were dedicated to compound flood modeling.

IT'S NOT EASY GOING GREEN

MUNICIPALITIES MUST GET CREATIVE TO FUND RESILIENCY IN A                TIME OF BOTH GREATER NEED AND REDUCED FEDERAL FUNDING

Miami Beach has a permanent population of about 80,000, but must provide services adequate to serve more than 13 million annual visitors who occupy more than 25,000 hotel rooms.

Though its land mass is less than eight square miles, the densely populated luxury living and resort town has a total taxable value of more than $56 billion.

All that valuable residential and commercial real estate sits only four feet above sea level.

With Biscayne Bay on its west side and the Atlantic Ocean on its east, the city is vulnerable to both sunny-day tidal flooding and paralyzing flooding simply when it gets heavy rains.

Miami Beach is planning to invest upwards of roughly $1 billion on resiliency.

A 2018 general obligation bond brought in more than $439 million — with most of it earmarked for resiliency.

Using utility fees and other resources, the city is adding water pumps, improving its stormwater network and rebuilding parks that can control flooding.

IT'S NOT EASY GOING GREEN

MUNICIPALITIES MUST GET CREATIVE TO FUND RESILIENCY IN A                TIME OF BOTH GREATER NEED AND REDUCED FEDERAL FUNDING

Austin Perez, the National Association of REALTORS’ senior policy advisor, who specializes in tracking the true cost of insurance, natural disasters and their impacts on homeownership, said many states prone to natural disasters have already become much more self-reliant when it comes to disaster response, recovery and rebuilding.

Since the devastation of Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Florida has had the top disaster response capacity of any state.

Perez noted that FEMA is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading agencies in coordinating logistics and immediate disaster response, particularly in situations that exceed the capacity of individual states.

While FEMA will continue to play a critical role in disaster response, states will likely need to assume greater responsibility for longer-term recovery efforts.

 

 

IT'S NOT EASY GOING GREEN

MUNICIPALITIES MUST GET CREATIVE TO FUND RESILIENCY IN A                TIME OF BOTH GREATER NEED AND REDUCED FEDERAL FUNDING

“You will have natural disasters where the feds are not going to be providing the same level of support,” said Austin Perez, the National Association of REALTORS’ senior policy advisor, who specializes in tracking the true cost of insurance, natural disasters and their impacts on homeownership.

While that may be a difficult adjustment for some states less accustomed to frequent disasters, it’s grounded in the U.S. Constitution.

Perez explains that, under our system of federalism, states hold primary responsibility for disaster response and recovery.

“Think of Katrina in New Orleans and Lahaina in Hawaii.

They were so severe and overwhelming, the states had to request federal assistance, including from FEMA,” he said.