La Plata County has cemented a new environmental policy that seeks to both instill sound environmental practices for county operations while at the same time save taxpayer dollars.
“It’s a win-win,” said La Plata County Commissioner Gwen Lachelt. “It’s good for the community, and it saves the county money.”
In 2007, La Plata County formed an “Energy Management and Resource Conservation Team” tasked with championing energy and resource conservation practices countywide.
Over the years, the team instituted such measures as ramping up recycling efforts, striving for LEED status on county buildings when possible, and looking for ways for employees to reduce waste throughout the day.
The County Administration Building at 1101 East Second Ave., as well as part of the La Plata County Courthouse, are LEED-certified, for instance.
“That effort has been growing ever since,” said Megan Graham, spokeswoman for the county.
Recently, La Plata County commissioners approved an environmental policy that is a culmination of that team’s work, consolidating all these best practices, as well as some new ones, into one document.
“It’s a practical guideline that helps inform departments how to best use their resources,” Graham said.
Some of the measures included in the policy are simple: turning off lights when a room is not in use, encouraging recycling, using both sides of a piece of paper when making copies or installing low-flow toilets when possible.
But other policies are aimed at a concerted effort to curb the use of resources.
With water, for instance, employees are encouraged to reduce use throughout the day. The county also uses xeriscaping or low-water landscaping, such as at the County Administration Building, when possible.
These practices will also be applied to the new $5.4 million building for the La Plata County assessor, treasurer and clerk’s offices, as well as the remodel of the Armory Building.
“We made a concerted effort in designs to be as energy efficient, non-consumptive as we can,” said Mark McKibben, director of the county’s General Services Department.
The policy also seeks to reduce fuel use and emissions. Employees are encouraged to carpool or walk to work. And, workers are asked not to let cars idle more than 5 minutes, with exceptions for certain situations.
The biggest and most visual component of this effort is an oil-burning heater at the Road and Bridge Department’s shop, which runs on used oil taken from county vehicles being worked on at the shop.
Dan Kolter, an automotive technician with La Plata County Road and Bridge, said the heating system burns about 8 gallons of used fuel a day and likely saves the county thousands of dollars in heating costs for the garage.
McKibben said current employees will be trained about the practices, with refreshers throughout the year. New employees, also, will get the rundown on how best to conserve.
“We want to try and create an ethic within our employees about the environment,” he said, “realizing those efforts are not only environmentally smart but can save the county money in our general fund.”
McKibben said it would be difficult to pin down a number for how much the county is saving as a result of the environmental policies, but the measures are aimed at cutting costs at a necessary time.
For years, La Plata County has been plagued with budget shortfalls as a result of the decline of the oil and gas industry in the region.
Since 2010, the county’s property tax revenue has declined 50 percent – from $29.4 million to $14.9 million in 2018 – as a result of oil and gas prices dropping.
The fall in property tax revenue has resulted in La Plata County cutting a number of services, staff and maintenance projects, such as improving roads.
As a result, the county has pledged to save money where it can. The environmental policy is considered an extension of that effort.
“It goes hand in hand with our innovation efforts,” Graham said. “We’re figuring out ways of doing more with less or the same with less, quickly and more efficiently.”
jromeo@durangoherald.com
