For the second year in a row, Tiny Township was recognized by Enbridge Gas for lowering greenhouse gases and making residents safer, through a successful grant application for $10,000.
The Municipal Climate Action Offer grant is aimed to support municipal action by reducing natural gas consumption within the borders of their municipality.
“This is their recognition of municipalities that are helping with the control of greenhouse gases and reductions,” said public works director Tim Leitch at the recent regular council meeting. “Last year, the township got $10,000 for our charging stations we put in.
“This year we were awarded the $10,000 again for our buying of hybrid and electric vehicles, as we migrate our fleet and our equipment to electric from gas powered in the reduction of greenhouse gases to achieve our goals.”
Leitch stated he was “really happy” with the grant, adding: “Just got the cheque last week, and that will go toward our climate action reserves to help us continue to do all the good things that we do.”
When asked by Mayor Dave Evans how many EV vehicles were in the fleet, Leitch noted that there were seven.
“Right now, out in our parking lot you’ll see six vehicles. Five are hybrid, one is a plug-in electric hybrid, and up at the yard we have our hybrid pick-up truck,” said Leitch. “As you’ll see with budgets, every year we’re going to be replacing our gas vehicles and diesel vehicles where we can practically with those types of solutions.”
As a commitment to Tiny’s environment, a climate change action plan was developed in 2018 with assistance from the Severn Sound Environmental Association.
SSEA sustainability and climate action coordinator Jon Main presented an update to the plan at local council meetings earlier this year through the Sustainable Severn Sound project, and noted that from 2015 data Tiny Township held the largest contribution to greenhouse gas emissions in North Simcoe with three-quarters of the amount attributed to the municipal fleet.
As per the Ontario Electricity Act, municipalities are required to report annually on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions for prescribed facilities and operations; a report for 2022 and 2023 has yet to be completed, according to the Tiny Township website.
Archives of council meetings are available to view on the township’s YouTube channel.
