Challenge to become greener accepted

Mocksville board commits to group's three-year program

By: By Michael Hewlett | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: August 07, 2008

The town of Mocksville is going green.

The town's board of commissioners approved a resolution Tuesday night committing to the N.C. League of Municipalities' Green Challenge for the next three years.

The league started the program about two months ago, spokesman Matt Lail said in a phone interview.

Susan Burgess, the president of the league, helped come up with the idea. "She wanted to sort of encourage our member municipalities to chip in and think of ways to save energy and be more sustainable," Lail said.

About eight cities and towns have signed up for the program so far, including Charlotte and Winston-Salem, Lail said.

That doesn't include others, such as Mocksville, that were in the process of passing resolutions to participate in the program, he said.

Towns and cities with populations of fewer than 10,000 must complete two out of five steps to be in the program. Mocksville has a population of about 4,600.

Town Manager Christine Sanders said that the Mocksville will conduct an energy audit of at least two of its buildings. The town will contract with Duke Energy Corp. and EnergyUnited for the audit.

The town will also educate residents on water conservation and provide tips on such things as recycling water, Sanders said.

"What we're hoping is to get some cost savings, especially with the energy audit," she said.

Sanders said that the town will reduce the amount of paper it uses and get residents to report instances of street lights burning during the day.

Lail said that many larger cities have already started being more environmentally conscious.

Winston-Salem did an energy audit in 2003 and has had a volunteer water-conservation plan for several years, he said.

"This sort of shows they've been ahead of the game," he said. "They're really pioneers when it comes to this."

Lail said he expects that about 200 cities and towns in North Carolina will take up the Green Challenge.

There are several levels to the challenge.

In more advanced levels, cities and towns would consider such things as buying power from renewable sources or using vehicles that are fuel-efficient.

Sanders said she hopes that Mocksville can help inspire residents to be more environmentally aware.

"If they see us doing this, that may encourage them to do some things as well," she said.

■ Michael Hewlett can be reached at 727-7326 or at mhewlett@wsjournal.com.