The chair is Bob Kobylarz, Vice President for Sustainability at Bunn-o-Matic. He has been an active supporter of the Smart Energy Forums that the Energy Services Office holds to update the public on CWLP's progress on energy efficiency and other clean energy efforts.
Bunn-o-Matic is known for its active involvement in the community and Bob leads their effort to green up their operations. Cool Cities is meant to have community-wide focus, so I hope that Bob's involvement as chair will lead to more engagement with the business community.
Springfield has already made tremendous progress with investments in renewable energy, efficiency programs and shutting down the old Lakeside coal plant. I would like to see the Cool Cities advisory council help to develop a plan and build momentum for taking the next steps forward.
Here's the official announcement from the city.
MEMBERS NAMED TO COOL CITIES ADVISORY COUNCIL
Mayor Tim Davlin has named nine individuals to serve on Springfield’s Cool Cities Advisory Council. The purpose of the council is to provide guidance and direction on a variety of issues as they relate to the Cool Cities initiative and the use of renewable energy.
“This Council will be essential in helping us move forward with our initiative to doing our part to reduce the threat of global warming,” Mayor Davlin said. “When we signed onto the U. S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, we committed to do our part to expand green initiatives and curb emissions. This Council will be critical in facilitating this initiative.”
Those appointed to the Cool Cities Advisory Council are:
Robert Kobylarz, Chairman, Vice President for Sustainability at Bunn-o-Matic
Robert Cusick, P. E., S. E., Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer for Hanson Professional Services
Kevin Greene, Manager of the Office of Pollution Prevention at the Illinois EPA
Robert Ruff, Senior Public Service Administrator, IDNR
Bryan Johnsrud, Senior Civil Engineer with Hanson Professional Services, Inc.
Melody LaMar, former Owner/Broker, Exceptional Realty Services
Jay Neposchlan, Special Services Manager of the Illinois Department of Revenue
Will Reynolds, Vice Chair of the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club and Director of the Community Volunteer Center
David Saladino, Environmental Protection Specialist, Illinois EPA
The council will study and develop a local climate action plan. The plan would include a variety of initiatives aimed toward reducing carbon emissions and improving energy conservation. The council will work to develop a solutions plan that can reduce emissions while lowering energy costs for our community. That can include such things as expanding Green Vehicle Fleets, improving Energy Efficiency, and developing Renewable Energy solutions. These solutions will be used to form the foundation of our community’s comprehensive energy-saving plan.
The Council will also study and work to develop a mechanism to monitor the progress being made toward these climatological goals.
Cool Cities is a volunteer collaboration between community members, organizations, businesses, and local leaders to implement clean energy solutions that save money, create jobs, and help curb global warming.