This is the fourth meeting of folks interested in seeing Chattanooga grow in sustainable ways, and become a green leader in the South.

We meet next on Oct. 28 at 4:30p, and we're shooting for the same goal as at our first meeting:
Review the links to the cities with sustainable and smart growth policies that make them green leaders, and decide which ones (and which aspects of the best plans) best fit Chattanooga. We can mix and match and try to overlay the best ideas on our city, then hand off our construct to a city employee qualified to adapt those ideas to us?

Coordinating with other action teams
Karen is working on coordinating our efforts with other teams. We don't want to duplicate efforts with the other action teams whose roles and missions overlap ours. We want to play a complementary role. The policy and procurement team is also looking at model green cities in order to adapt their best practices to our needs. We also share interests with the urban forestry team, which is looking at our landscaping ordinances, as well as the teams advising the mayor on recycling, transportation, education, communications and biodiversity groups. The education and communications team may be interested in the idea of citizen forums and speaker presentations, as well as showcases of some of the larger projects mentioned, such as at VW, etc.

EPA Smart Growth Principals
Also, there was much interest in Steve's link to the EPA smart growth principals: http://www.epa.gov/dced/about_sg.htm. Steve, if you'd like to walk us through what you've found, please feel free to send the links.

Empowering Neighborhoods
We discussed how not much that we do will have much bite, if we don't also at least uphold, preferably enhance, our land-use plan (a plan that has been ratified twice as a guiding zoning document by the city council). The zoning ordinances would have to support that land-use plan, and discourage violations of the plan, such as spot zonings that can also lower home values, if we are to get very far with smart growth recommendations. That said, we discussed ways to generate community support. It was suggested that empowering the ultimate stakeholders, the residents of neighborhoods, to combine forces to determine their ideal land-use plan is a direction we want to pursue. Designating pilot neighborhoods or communities to demonstrate how citizens can identify or "brand" their community, as a place of interest was mentioned at both the first and last meetings, and sounds like a good idea. I volunteered E. Brainerd, since a couple of us have looked at the land-use plan, and it is facing the typical sprawl. However, areas, such as Main Street and North Shore were nominated as places that are already making strides towards sustainability in some quarters. Perhaps we can pilot more than one area.

423-267-2464

Sierra Club is meeting on their regular last Monday of the month,the 26th, and our topic has changed from Sierra Club Outings Program to one about the Water Monitoring Program of the United Mountain Defense, Matt Landon presenting.

This from their website:
UMD monitors water quality in Tennessee’s coal impacted areas. We have sampled and tested water quality in streams in the New River Watershed, Elk Valley, the Eagan area of Claiborne County and after the TVA disaster in Roane County, TN. Test and data results are made available to TDEC and OSM and to members of the public either by request or through distribution online through our listserv and website. Our data advances science by providing a portrait over time of water quality in the Tennessee coalfields and of the impacts of surface mining and by providing samples for scientists and others to study.
UMD’s water monitoring program includes three components:

Chemical monitoring using a YSI digital monitor

Biological survey of macro invertebrates

Visual stream assessment

Since we are downstreamers, it will be a topic of interest for many, and extent the discussion of the TCWN from last month.

Thanks again and Blessings,
Tami
Tami Freedman
Cherokee Sierra Executive Committee
http://tennessee.sierraclub.org/
706-866-1074
P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

TVA will hold a briefing session on Friday, October 23 at 3 p.m. to update the public on the status of TVA’s Integrated Resource Plan, which will outline future power resource options.

At the public briefing, TVA representatives will discuss the IRP process, which is designed to get input on how TVA provides electric power to the Tennessee Valley for the next 20 years, and answer questions from the public. The public briefing will be held in the OCHS room at the Chattanoogan Hotel, 1201 South Broad St.

TVA will also hold additional quarterly public meetings to provide updates on the plan, called TVA’s Environmental and Energy Future, and to provide more opportunities for the public to comment on the IRP process. The first quarterly public meeting will be in November.

In addition to the quarterly meetings, TVA regularly posts information as it is developed on the TVA Website, www.tva.com/irp, so interested parties can stay abreast of efforts under way. Information on upcoming meeting dates and locations is also posted on the Website.

Charles P. Nicholson, PhD
NEPA Policy Program Manager
Tennessee Valley Authority
400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 11B
Knoxville, TN 37902-1499
Phone: 865-632-3582
Fax: 865-632-2345
cpnicholson@tva.gov

RIVER RESCUE
OCTOBER 3 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
SELECTED STATIONS

Each year, SCCGA participates in River Rescue cleaning up litter along South Chickamauga Creek. This is an intergenerational event that is often an eye-opener to those who participate. A good event for youth groups too. Free t-shirt and a lot of fun. Call Nancy Brice for more information: (423) 413-0700

Citizens are invited to this 3rd meeting of the Smart Growth Action Team, a citizen advisory board to the mayor on making Chattanooga a leader in sustainability:

Wednesday, Sept. 30
4:30 PM
King Design Group
1401 Chestnut Street
423-267-2464

A disturbing recommendation during the first meeting was that developers get rezoning "points" for undevelopable land in outlying areas. The points would be used towards higher density in the city and neighborhoods. Team member/developer/planning commissioner Don Moon promoted this as a "cap & trade" technique for dealing with areas that would normally be undeveloped, such as wetlands, rock outcroppings, ridges, etc. Zoning should be based on upholding the land-use plan, not giving points to developers for land they can't develop anyway.