Putting Jasper on the eco-map
Jasper is getting its first public charging station for electric cars.
Janet Cooper, environmental stewardship coordinator, told council that after an inquiry from an electric car owner, she started doing some research and realized that outside of major centres there are very few charging stations in Alberta. But, fortunately, there is a charging station in the plans for the library and cultural centre.
Because of that, Jasper will be on the map鈥攐n numerous plug share websites鈥攁s an electric car friendly community.
鈥淭he good news is we鈥檙e not going to be holding anybody up from their journey,鈥� said Cooper, who noted that there might also be a second charging station going in at Pine Bungalows. 鈥淲e certainly don鈥檛 want to be the place that doesn鈥檛 have a public charger.鈥�
Coun. Rico Damota agreed and suggested it might be a good idea to add stations at some of the park鈥檚 attractions.
鈥淚f we had a few of these up at the ski hill and maybe at some of the waterfall parking lots and in the community, I think that would be a great feather in our cap.鈥�
Reuse-It Centre needs donations
It鈥檚 been a rough winter for the Reuse-It Centre.
First its future was unknown as it waited for a decision from council, as to whether the municipality would support the centre with $10,000 to help with operational costs for 2014.
And now, six week after receiving that support, it is in need of donations.
Janet Cooper, environmental stewardship coordinator, reported to council that the centre has people coming in looking for furniture, but it doesn鈥檛 have the donations to support those people.
鈥淭he Reuse-It Centre has had a very bad January and February in terms of donations,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here is a huge need for furniture. That鈥檚 what everyone wants, we have customers coming in, but we don鈥檛 have the donations.鈥�
With all of its struggles the past two years, Cooper said the centre will reevaluate its future in June when its lease is up at the Anglican Church.
The Reuse-It Centre is open the same hours as the United Church Thrift Shop: Monday and Wednesday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and Thursday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Water modelling begins
The operations department has begun a project that will see the town鈥檚 waterlines inventoried and modelled, so the municipality will know which lines need to be replaced and when.
A survey crew was in town earlier this month to start the project, first looking at the town鈥檚 surface infrastructure.
Bruce Thompson, director of operations, said that once the snow has melted, municipal staff will start 鈥済round truthing鈥� to determine just what鈥檚 hiding under Jasper鈥檚 streets. That work will then be put into a computer to create maps of the town鈥檚 infrastructure.
This will be done in collaboration with Mike Mitchell鈥擩asper鈥檚 geomatics technician, who works for both the municipality and Jasper National Park.
Waste audit: diversion up, waste up
Although Jasperites continue to divert more and more waste each year, the total amount of garbage trucked to the landfill in 2013 increased, affecting the town鈥檚 overall rate of waste diversion.
In 2012, Jasper saw a 37 per cent diversion rate, while in 2013 it decreased to 30 per cent.
Janet Cooper, Jasper鈥檚 environmental stewardship coordinator, said she believes the increase in garbage was from the numerous construction projects taking place, as all of that construction waste is trucked straight to the Hinton landfill.
鈥淭he good news is with our larger recycling programs we actually increased the amount of material we were diverting: that鈥檚 things like beverage containers, cardboard and organics,鈥� said Cooper.
鈥淏everage containers is about 20 per cent of everything we鈥檙e diverting, 19 per cent for cardboard and 18 per cent for organics. That鈥檚 good news.鈥�
