The Orange County Community Climate Action Grant program awarded funding to six projects last week to lower environmental impact and combat climate change in the community. The Town of Chapel Hill received funding for three of their proposed projects.
“I was beyond elated and grateful back to the commissioners for distributing these funds for much needed climate action plans,” said Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger.
One of Chapel Hill’s projects approved is a tree planting program.
“We want to put in more native trees,” Hemminger said. “We’ve got some stress points we’ve got some focus areas that we really want to help, and some neighborhoods that need this help for shade and other reasons.”
The grant program provides funding for climate action projects that will hopefully benefit Orange County residents socially and fiscally. The funding comes from a quarter-cent property tax revenue each year. For the 2021 fiscal year, $478,657 dollars are available.
A portion of these funds will be used to purchase, plant and maintain 40 large native trees. The trees are estimated to capture 2.42 metric tons every ten years of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent – the standard unit for measuring carbon footprint. Over 80 years the trees are expected to prevent 19.36 metric tons from entering the atmosphere.
Another town project includes a Solar-powered Electric Vehicle Charging Station. Hemminger said the charging station will be installed at the park and ride lot on Eubanks Road.
“We’re seeing more and more electric cars in our community which we think’s great and we want to be able to have a whole network of electric charging stations to help them have places to recharge,” Hemminger said.
The electric vehicle charging station will have a dedicated port to power Orange County Mobility On-Demand transit vehicles.
Hemminger said the town is also pushing forward to install 40 LED light fixtures to replace less efficient fixtures on fields at Cedar Falls Park. The LEDs are estimated to save 38,850 kilowatt hours of energy and over $97,000 dollars in utilities over their 25 year lifespan.
“The more we can do the more cost savings but also the reduction of the carbon footprint,” Hemminger said. “So we’re very very excited it helps us move toward reducing our carbon footprint.”
Other projects approved by the Orange County Climate Action Grant program include Solar Panels on Affordable Habitat Homes, Water Heater Replacement, and Cane Creek Reservoir DC Solar Array.
Lead photo courtesy Orange County Climate Action Grant Program
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