FW: Town Hall Meeting Page 1 of 2 Mish, Catherine From: Heartwell, George [gheartwe@ci grand-rapids.mi.us] Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 7:03 AM To: _cortand.overmyer@unitedwater.com ‘Subject: FW: Town Hall Meeting FYI ~~-Original Message — From: Magniant, Jane Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 8:25 AM To: Heartwell, George Subject: FW: Town Hall Meeting Jane Magniant Secretary to the Mayor City of Grand Rapids, Michigan 616-456-3168 Original Message- From: Stephanie Krajnik [mailto Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2009 2:30 AM To: Magniant, Jane Subject: Town Hall Meeting ‘Mayor Heartwell, I'm sonry you couldn't make it to the town hall meeting last weekend on climate change and clean energy. The meeting was very informative and there was a wide range of participants. I just wanted to send you a quick overview of the highlights and the link to the video that's posted on the web. Unfortunately, the first two sections are not working, but the webmaster is. trying to fix that. For the rest ofthe video, just click on the link (hitp/iwww.justin.tw/clip/635S2f7e]e4446e2). Also, I heard that 85 people watched the video live, and more have watched it since then, Feel free to email me with any questions you have about the meeting, ‘Thanks for your time. + Governor Granhoim’s proposal to cut spending to protect Michigan's ‘wetlands and place them under the responsibilities of the EPA needs to be reviewed. Not only could we potentially lose ‘wetlands as building permits are easier to obtain and other limitations are not enforced causing habitat destruction, but there are many other things that could be placed under the EPA instead of our water that would provide equal, not less protection to our resources and would result in the same fiscal savings. We should push for other resources to be placed under the EPA’s care, but not our water and wetlands, which we have so carefully protected in the past. + Weave the resources and technology to have alternative energy and there is no need for more coal-fired power plants that will pollute our air, be very costly to build and maintain, continue our dependence on fossil fuels, and cause environmental and health problems. 7/2/2009 6 gFW: Town Hall Meeting « Page 2 of 2 Representative Ehlers believes that Michigan should be a leader in alternative energy such as solar and wind power instead of keeping with old technology. If there is a letter tobe written to a Congress member, it should be about coal. There is no such thing as clean coal. + Lastly, Dave Bulkowski from Friends of Transit came to talk about the Silver Line public transportation. Voting for the millage will be on May 5, and it's important that this is passed. It will provide transportation that runs parallel to US-131 for many people who may'not have access to a car, and it will be a cheap alternative way to commute to work. Additionally, it will cut down on air pollution in Grand Rapids. The money has already been set aside forthe project; the millage is just to show community support forthe frst year itis running. The Silver Line ‘could cause great growth in Grand Rapids. It is important that this millage is passed so the funding for this project and a great ‘opportunity is not lst. Stephanie 7/2/2009 68.