Tiburon joins environmental networking program

The Beacon Program helps municipalities implement policies and ideas that build more resilient communities.

Tiburon has joined a statewide program that aims to support local sustainability efforts.

The Town Council unanimously adopted a resolution on June 19 that committed it to participating in the Beacon Program.

The program is an educational and peer networking support system that helps municipalities implement policies and ideas that build more resilient communities. There is no fee to join the group of more than 160 participants.

“The Beacon Program is exactly part of what we’re trying to do with the sustainability plan and the climate action plan,” Vice Mayor Holli Thier said. “So I’m happy to see this moving forward.”

The program is meant to complement other sustainability programs in the town, not develop new ones. The benefits of the program include peer networking and conferences with other participants, educational webinars and events, and showcases of achievements to people across the state.

The program also would provide technical assistance on tracking, collection and reporting data regarding sustainability best practices, energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions.

“It’s a big network of communities, especially in California, that are working toward (climate) projects and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and community emissions,” said Grace Ledwith, climate action and sustainability coordinator for Tiburon and Mill Valley.

The program is administered through the Institute for Local Government, a nonprofit training and education affiliate of the League of California Cities, the California State Association of Counties and the California Special Districts Association.

“It wouldn’t be anything that we haven’t been working on already,” Ledwith said. “So all the work that we are doing toward our (climate) and our sustainability programs, we could document that and then also receive awards and recognition for that work being done.”

Ledwith said the town would have little problem achieving some of the awards, which entail reducing emissions by 5%, 10% or 20% in various categories such as electricity and natural gas.

Local jurisdictions that are part of the program include Marin County, Mill Valley and San Rafael. Ledwith said joining the program would also increase the town’s chances of obtaining grants.

Mayor Alice Fredericks asked if government collaboration on sea-level rise is part of the program. Ledwith said that while sea-level rise and greenhouse gas emissions often go hand in hand, the network is more focused on climate than shoreline adaptation.

Chuck Hornbrook of Tiburon wrote to the council in support of joining the program.

“As the primary author of the Town’s Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Plan that was passed a few years ago, I spent a lot of time looking at other jurisdictions and speaking with other knowledgeable stakeholders, the exact activity that the Beacon Program promotes but in a more systematic way,” Hornbrook wrote. “I would applaud the Town for taking advantage of this and bringing more best practices to Town.”

Ledwith and Thier will serve as the lead contacts for the program.