Lee County Seeks Online Input for Prioritizing Sustainability Goals
LEE COUNTY – The Lee County Office of Sustainability has launched the online portion of its public outreach effort for developing the County’s first Sustainability Plan.
Known as “completeLEE,” the Sustainability Plan will use a balanced approach to decision-making, examining how the economy, society and environment influence the ability to maintain a highly desirable quality of life and increased competitiveness.
By logging onto Lee County’s online public forum at www.LeeCountyTownHall.com, community members can learn about sustainability and help prioritize goals given limited resources. This online process follows a successful March 7 public workshop at the Eco Living Center at Rutenberg Park, during which more than 70 people showed their support for completeLEE.
“Sustainability in Lee County means addressing short-term needs in ways that don’t compromise our ability to achieve the community’s long-term vision,” said Lee County Office of Sustainability Programs Manager Tessa LeSage.
Lee County began the Sustainability Plan process by establishing the Office of Sustainability in 2010. The unanimously adopted Sustainability Assessment was completed in 2012. After collecting benchmark data and establishing goals, the next step is to rank goals and measure successes based on performance.
Last year, Lee County was invited to participate in a national pilot program with the STAR Communities – the first framework for evaluating, quantifying and improving the livability and sustainability of a community. “The benefit of using the STAR approach is that we can gauge our success against a uniform set of criteria,” LeSage said. “We can get an apples-to-apples comparison on how we are doing with other communities. It saves us time and money.”
In the coming months, LeSage will report priorities back to the community and present the completeLEE Sustainability Plan to the Board of County Commissioners for adoption later this year. To learn more, visit the website or follow the Office of Sustainability on Facebook.
