By Holly Demaree
When the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns was created in 1891, the goal was to form a non-profit organization that supports towns and cities across the state and to recognize those that go beyond regulations and laws to better their community. For the second time in two years Fishers has been awarded an honor by the IACT. The town has received the Green Community of the Year Award.
The Green Communities Initiative was created in 2008 to recognize cities and towns that focus on making their community greener.
“It’s not any one individual thing that we do, rather it is a combination of different initiatives and projects that we work on,” Fishers Town Manager Scott Fadness said
One example Fadness gives is that Fishers recently introduced a cleaner fuel for the mowers used to help maintain the town.
“We are able to use alternative fuels in our lawn mowers,” Fadness said. “We implemented a propane system into our lawn mowers so it burns cleaner than traditional gas mowers.”
In 2012, Fishers won the Green Community of the Year Award. Since then, ideas of how to become more environmentally aware and friendly have been researched or enacted. For instance, lower impact developments are encouraged for those who are constructing a new building in Fishers. There are opportunities to be more environmentally conscious with their development and design.
“I don’t know if we’ve done anything differently we’ve just continued to further our initiatives…. I think we are continuing on the same path as in 2012 we are just broadening the scope and gaining a better understanding of what we can do in the community to be environmentally cautious,” Fadness said.
Other examples include Recycling Day and Prescription Drug Drop Off program which allow residents of Fishers to get rid of items they no longer need in a safe and proper manner for the environment as well as for residents.
Fadness said that the town of Fishers is always considering ways to keep the town environmentally green but also ways to stay economically healthy to benefit the community.
“Right now we are really focusing on what alternative energy or fuel we may look at for some of our fleet,” Fadness said. “We have not made a decision yet on what technology that may be. We are really in the evaluation stage right now.”
The town of Fishers has about 500 to 600 pieces of equipment in its fleet ranging from police cars to lawn mowers. Each piece of equipment requires a certain amount of fuel.
“I think sometime in the foreseeable future you will see the town of Fishers move towards an alternative fuel for our fleet because it makes economic and environmental sense,” Fadness said. “But we just aren’t there yet in terms of what specific technology that would be. But we are definitely evaluating the different options.”
